Seek

Williams told the North Carolina Utilities Commission Wednesdayit may seek contribution from North Carolina’s $200 million of newnatural gas bond funds to provide natural gas from its Transcopipeline to five counties in northeastern North Carolina.

After opening at the pivotal $2.00 level yesterday the Maycontract was held to a tight, 3.5-cent trading range, as tradersseemed willing to sell the prompt contract on moves above $2.00 andbuy the market on moves below $2.00. And similar to the priceaction, yesterday’s close had something for everyone. Bulls foundsolace in the market’s ability to finish above $2.00, while bearswere optimistic following the market’s second-straight day oflosses. May slipped 1.7 cents to $2.013.

Unconvinced that the latest uptick in domestic oil pricessignals a turnaround, domestic producers last week descended on theWhite House and Capitol Hill to make a direct pitch for marginalwell tax credits, exploration and production (E&ampP) incentivesand other economic reforms to boost the ailing oil and gasindustry.

Caught in the midst of heated criticism of FERC’s proposedauction mechanism, Mississippi River Transmission (MRT) isdefending its proposed new auction procedures from attack bymarketers and producers.

The “catastrophic” impact of anemic crude oil prices on domesticoil and gas producers requires Congress and the Clintonadministration to take “extraordinary” measures to revive an”industry that is on its knees,” lawmakers on the Senate Energy andNatural Resources Committee said Thursday.

A rate case that fixed the price of Mountaineer Gas Co. salesfor the next three years has led the LDC to seek supply and assetmanagement services from Coral Energy. Coral became the principalgas supplier to Mountaineer through an agreement giving Coralmanagement of virtually all of Mountaineer’s total firmtransportation and storage entitlements.

In a change of strategy earlier this week, TransCanada PipeLinesLtd. and Nicor Inc. notified FERC that they were withdrawing theirapplication for their original Viking Voyageur pipeline project toclear the path for a new application on a scaled-down version ofthe project that they intend to file early this fall.

After counseling from some of its board members, the CaliforniaIndependent System Operator (ISO) has decided not to seek relieffrom the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for an unprecedentedprice spike it experienced July 9 for reserve power in California’srestructured electricity markets, according to an ISO spokesperson.

The New York Public Service Commission (PSC) has asked FERC toinitiate a proposed rulemaking for the purpose of opening up aninquiry into the appropriate rate design for interstate natural gaspipelines.