Seeks

R. Skip Horvath, president of the Natural Gas Supply Association(NGSA) and former official of a major pipeline group, took theinitial step yesterday towards trying to unify a fragmented naturalgas industry.

After Alaska’s governor balked at a move by BP Amoco to pushconsideration of its ARCO acquisition through the Federal TradeCommission, the company has backed off and pledged to address thestate’s anti-competitive concerns. Discussions between the companyand Alaska were ongoing last week.

TriState Pipeline L.L.C. last week asked FERC to place the U.S. portion of its Chicago-to-Canada project on indefinite hold, which only added more fuel to industry speculation that the project’s future is tenuous at best.

Claiming to be an innocent victim, TXU Energy Trading is seekinga stay of a decision ordering CNG Transmission to turn overpipeline capacity that was initially awarded to TXU toan existingpipeline shipper, who FERC found had properly exercised itsright-of-first-refusal (ROFR) for the capacity.

Amoco Production and Amoco Energy Trading have wasted no time inpetitioning the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to review FERC’srecent decision upholding Dynegy Marketing and Trade’s 1.3 Bcf/dcontract with El Paso Natural Gas.

A major pipeline group last week sought rehearing of FERC’sremand decision on Sea Robin Pipeline on the grounds that it failedto include the “behind-the-plant” factor when determining thejurisdictional status of the offshore gas pipeline.

FERC yesterday issued a preliminary determination (PD) forFlorida Gas Transmission’s Phase IV mainline expansion project inwhich it seeks to meet the growing gas needs of the burgeoningpower generation market in Florida.

Texas Eastern Transmission (Tetco) has asked FERC to schedule aconference to take a “hard look” at “viable alternatives” – notablythose using turned-back capacity – to the controversialIndependence-MarketLink pipeline projects and perhaps the proposedMillennium Pipeline.

Faced with an onslaught of new pipeline projects, FERC this weekis expected to propose a policy statement that seeks to establish a”framework” by which it can pick the winner when two or moreprojects are destined for the same market [PL99-3]. The Commissionhas listed discussion of a policy statement on pipelineconstruction certificates on the docket for its regular openmeeting Wednesday. It will be FERC’s last meeting until September.