Sent

Reps. James L. Oberstar (D-MN), John D. Dingell (D-MI) and DavidR. Obey (D-WI) sent letters to President Clinton and HouseDemocratic Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt last week urgingrejection of an effort to include the Senate’s pipeline safety bill(S. 2438) as a rider to an appropriations bill or other “must-pass”legislation.

Higher interest expenses and new costs related to a fiber opticsproject sent third quarter earnings for Columbia Energy Groupdownward, failing to measure up forecasts by First Call/ThomsonFinancial analysts, who had expected higher earnings. Herndon,VA-based Columbia reported income of $19.5 million, or 24 cents pershare, with analysts forecasting earnings of 29 cents per share.

Nymex Chairman Daniel Rappaport last week sent a letter to Rep.Larry Combest, Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture,raising concern over a subsection of H.R. 4541, the “CommodityFutures Modernization Act of 2000,” which would exempt electronicenergy derivatives trading from regulatory oversight.

The sharp rise in natural gas and oil prices and production have sent Apache Corp.’s earnings skyrocketing, and the CEO said last week that the Houston-based independent would easily beat Wall Street estimates.

The sharp rise in natural gas and oil prices have sent Apache Corp.’s earnings skyrocketing, and the CEO said yesterday the Houston-based independent would easily beat Wall Street estimates. Analysts have predicted earnings per share of $4.86, but CEO Raymond Plank said the company expects to earn $5.50 per share, about 20% higher than predicted.

Coastal Corp.’s Gulfstream Natural Gas System has sent a requestfor quotation (RFQ) to 10 pre-qualified contractors for installationof the offshore portion of its proposed 744-mile natural gas pipelinefrom Alabama across the Gulf of Mexico to Florida. The RFQ calls foroffshore assembly and installation of more than 400 miles of 36-inchdiameter pipe to to serve Gulfstream’s customers in Florida. Thepipeline says it has 10 large, non-affiliated Florida utilities andpower generation facilities signed to long-term commitments for themajority of its capacity. Gulfstream is one of two largeunder-the-Gulf pipelines proposed to serve the Florida Peninsula. TheFederal Energy Regulatory Commission last month issued preliminaryapprovals for both Gulfstream and Buccaneer pipelines, each of whichproposes to carry about a Bcf/d into the state. The latter issponsored by Williams and Duke Energy (see Daily GPI, April 26).

FERC has sent Dominion Resources and its merged partner,Consolidated Natural Gas (CNG), back to the drawing board to expandthe scope of the pipeline marketing affiliate rule to apply to allenergy affiliates within their corporate family.

Coastal Corp.’s Gulfstream Natural Gas System has sent a requestfor quotation (RFQ) to 10 pre-qualified contractors forinstallation of the offshore portion of its proposed 744-milenatural gas pipeline from Alabama across the Gulf of Mexico toFlorida.

FERC sent Dominion Resources and its merged partner,Consolidated Natural Gas (CNG), back to the drawing board last weekto expand the scope of the pipeline marketing-affiliate rule toapply to all energy affiliates within their corporate family. Thisaction is in keeping with the Commission’s crackdown on abusesbetween pipelines and affiliates.