Seven

FERC Tuesday granted a request of Sempra Energy’s Cameron LNG LLC for a seven-month delay to complete and place into service its liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal that is under construction near Hackberry, LA.

Seven Horn River Basin producers have committed to 760 MMcf/d of gathering and processing capacity on an expansion of Spectra Energy Corp. facilities in Fort Nelson, British Columbia, the company said last Thursday. The expansion could accommodate up to 830 MMcf/d of incremental gas from the burgeoning Horn River.

Seven Horn River Basin producers have committed to 760 MMcf/d of gathering and processing capacity on an expansion of Spectra Energy Corp. facilities in Fort Nelson, British Columbia, the company said Thursday. The expansion could accommodate up to 830 MMcf/d of incremental gas from the burgeoning Horn River.

At least one new natural gas pipeline from the Rockies to the West Coast will be built in the next five to seven years, and Sempra Energy may consider taking an owner/operator stake in one of them, senior officials of the San Diego-based company said recently. Gas storage also has Sempra’s close attention, but for different reasons.

At least one new natural gas pipeline from the Rockies into the West will be built in the next five to seven years, according to senior executives at San Diego-based Sempra Energy, and while still on the sidelines, it is watching various project developments closely to decide what moves they will make as a potential owner/shipper on the new pipeline.

Denver-based St. Mary Land & Exploration Co. plans to reduce its onshore U.S. rig count to seven by the end of February, down from a peak of 16 in mid-2008. Two operated rigs will focus on drilling horizontal wells in the Woodford, Arkoma and Anadarko basins, and one rig will be used in the Rocky Mountains. In the Permian Basin, one operated rig will run intermittently throughout the year. In its emerging shale plays, St. Mary plans to have one to two operated rigs that will be shared through the year at its Haynesville, Eagle Ford and Marcellus shale programs. Full-year 2009 production is forecast to be 101-104 Bcfe, down from the 115 Bcfe produced in 2008. The company posted a 4Q2008 loss of $126 million (minus $2.01/share), compared with earnings of $32.9 million (51 cents) in the same period of 2007. Excluding one-time charges, St. Mary reported a quarterly profit of $27.1 million (43 cents/share). Revenue fell 6% to $258 million from $275 million a year earlier.

El Paso Corp. Wednesday sold $500 million of seven-year senior notes, a move designed to enhance the company’s ability to handle $1 billion of debt maturities that expire in May.

Dominion said it will implement Wednesday an FTNN (Firm Transportation No-Notice) Hourly Limit OFO and a Conform Transportation Services to Scheduled Nominations OFO for seven utility meters in New York state. OFO conditions will be similar to those of ones issued prior to Christmas (see Daily GPI, Dec. 24). See the bulletin board for details.

FERC Thursday ordered an administrative law judge (ALJ) hearing to determine whether certain natural gas futures trading activities by Amaranth Advisors LLC, seven affiliates and two former traders violated the agency’s anti-manipulation regulations.