Settles

The last chapter in the saga of the aborted 2 Bcf Wells, ME, LNGproject has been filed at FERC. A settlement agreement submittedlast week allows LNG project developer Granite State GasTransmission to recover $8.3 million in predevelopment coststhrough Northern Utilities’ ratepayers over a seven-year period.

In a rare move that eliminates huge legal costs, Kern River GasTransmission has submitted to FERC a negotiated settlementagreement on its rate design prior to the start of a general ratecase (RP99-274). The agreement has the approval of all of itsshippers. Kern’s general rate case was scheduled to begin thismonth.

CMS Energy settled Federal Trade Commission charges on Fridaythat threaten to hold up its acquisition of Panhandle Eastern andTrunkline Pipeline from Duke Energy. The FTC charged the purchasewould limit pipeline competition in 54 counties in Michigan. Thesettlement allows CMS to close the deal basically unchanged, but itdid delay the closing by many weeks, a CMS official said.

The hypervolatility in swing deals done Friday for Nov. 1-2 madeit difficult to gauge where the cash market was moving Monday. Butthe overall mix of flat to about a dime or so up or down (includingjust about all points in between) amounted to a general wash thattilted a little bit to the negative side, sources said. Besides,they added, it was generally a quiet day for most traders as theytook stock of bidweek and prospects for the upcoming days.

Texas Eastern Transmission (Tetco) has made big strides towardbecoming a more competitive pipeline system in eastern markets. Thecompany agreed last week to pay three producers $496 million tosettle all of its remaining gas purchase contracts. Shippers willbear about $396 million of the costs, which is about $100 millionless than a payment cap set in 1993 as part of a restructuringsettlement.

Mitchell Energy & Development agreed to settle the lastremaining 25 North Texas groundwater lawsuits brought against acompany subsidiary. Plaintiffs alleged in the suits that Mitchell’soil and gas operations in Wise County, TX, affected theirgroundwater.