Separately

Petrohawk Energy Corp. and EXCO Resources Inc. separately last week reported ramping up two “monster” natural gas wells in the Haynesville Shale in northwestern Louisiana. The results parallel reports by several other operators in the play.

Petrohawk Energy Corp. and EXCO Resources Inc. separately on Tuesday reported ramping up two “monster” natural gas wells in the Haynesville Shale in northwestern Louisiana.

North Baja Pipeline and Coral Energy Resources LP separately have asked FERC to deny the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s request for a limited stay of the agency’s order approving a proposed expansion of North Baja’s system to import regasified liquefied natural gas (LNG).

North Baja Pipeline and Coral Energy Resources LP separately have asked FERC to deny the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s request for a limited stay of the agency’s order approving a proposed expansion of North Baja’s system to import regasified liquefied natural gas (LNG).

A broad energy policy reform bill and tax package are scheduled to come to the House floor Friday to be debated and voted on separately. The House leadership has made some changes to the contentious policy measure to win over Democrats from producing states, but producers, pipelines and large industrial customers say the revisions have not changed their minds one iota — they still oppose it. Some say the changes have made a bad bill even worse.

Forest Oil Corp. and The Houston Exploration Co. (THX) stockholders separately have approved a merger agreement between the two companies (see Daily GPI, Jan. 9). On a pro forma basis, the acquisition will give Forest a total estimated proved reserves base of 2.0 Tcfe, of which about 69% would be classified as proved developed and approximately 70% would be natural gas. Denver-based Forest management and its board of directors will continue in their current positions, and it is anticipated that Forest will create a new business unit to be located in Houston. Under the terms of the agreement, THX stockholders will receive total consideration equal to 0.84 shares of Forest common stock and $26.25 in cash for each outstanding share of THX common stock, which represents $60.02/share to be received by THX stockholders based on the average closing price of Forest shares during the 10-day valuation period specified in the merger agreement. About 18.5 million of THX outstanding total shares, or 65.2%, voted to approve the transaction. Following the closing, Forest stockholders will own 73% of the combined company; THX stockholders will own 27%.

FERC last Thursday approved the merger of KeySpan Corp. and London-based National Grid. Separately, the Commission approved NorthWestern Corp.’s merger with Babcock & Brown Infrastructure Ltd. (BBI), a company based in Sydney, Australia.

California’s attorney general and other branches of state government separately filed objections Thursday to the Sempra Energy settlement announced last week. The AG, Department of Water Resources (DWR) and Electricity Oversight Board each filed complaints with San Diego Superior Court Judge Ronald S. Prager, who is hearing a major class action lawsuit against Sempra that last week’s agreement has halted (see Daily GPI, Jan. 6).

El Paso Natural Gas, Southern California Gas and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) responded separately Friday to shipper protests of a precedent agreement between El Paso and SoCal Gas that was filed on March 1. The agreement covers recontracting under six new firm transportation service agreements (TSA) for an average throughput of 750 MMcf/d on El Paso mainly from the San Juan Basin to California border delivery points.