Seeks

Seeking emergency relief for Texas oil and gas producerssuffering from low commodity prices, the three-member TexasRailroad Commission (TRC) last week voted to propose statelegislation to suspend severance tax payments when the price foroil and gas drops below $15/barrel of oil or $1.50/Mcf of naturalgas as determined by the Comptroller of Public Accounts

Seeking emergency relief for Texas oil and gas producerssuffering from low commodity prices, the three-member TexasRailroad Commission (TRC) last week voted to propose statelegislation to suspend severance tax payments when the price foroil and gas drops below $15/barrel of oil or $1.50/Mcf of naturalgas as determined by the Comptroller of Public Accounts.

An ambitious plan to prepay for large volumes of gas under amulti-year contract is under consideration by the California agencyresponsible for procuring natural gas for state facilities.Staffers of Natural Gas Services, a unit of the state’s Departmentof General Services, would like to hear ideas about implementingsuch a program from potential suppliers.

An Arizona municipality, which seeks to start up its own gasdistribution system, has accused an out-of-state distributor ofhiding behind its Hinshaw status to justify its refusal totransport interstate gas for resale to the municipal’s potentialcustomers. Without the distributor’s transportation link, themunicipal says its dream of its own system will fizzle. Thedistributor, on the other hand, contends that its denial of transportation service is strictly a business decision.

An Arizona municipality, which seeks to start up its own gasdistribution system, has accused an out-of-state distributor ofhiding behind its Hinshaw status to justify its refusal totransport interstate gas for resale to the municipal’s potentialcustomers. Without the distributor’s transportation link, themunicipal says its dream of its own system will fizzle. Thedistributor, on the other hand, contends that its denial of transportation service is strictly a business decision.

Indiana regulators and FERC are weighing a potentiallygroundbreaking case that, in the end after court review, couldaward “complementary jurisdiction” to both states and the federalgovernment in instances where interstate pipelines are seeking tobypass local distribution companies (LDCs) in order to directlyserve end-use customers.

About 80 electric-related companies are due to respond laterthis week to FERC inquiries aimed at determining whether marketmanipulation was a contributing factor to the wild price gyrationsin the Midwest electricity market in late June.

ANR Pipeline has called on FERC to dismiss TransCanadaPipeLines’s and Nicor’s Viking Voyageur Project application on fileat the Commission, a move that could prevent the two sponsors fromusing it as the basis for a proposal to build a radically alteredproject.

Virginia Power asked the State Corporation Commission Tuesdayfor authority to build and operate five natural gas-firedcombustion turbines to generate power for the utility’s two millioncustomers during peak demand periods.