Shipping

In what some shippers see as ironic given the sorry status of the pipeline’s own credit rating, PG&E Gas Transmission Northwest’s (GTN) existing collateral demands on credit-risky customers have raised skepticism from federal regulators and shippers alike in recent weeks. The proposed tougher-than-federally-required credit standards for the pipeline’s shippers have been put on hold by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which wants to hold a technical conference on the issue.

BP is considering shipping liquefied natural gas into the Port of Tampa and has taken an option to build a $200 million import terminal that could be completed in about four years. BP had said previously it would consider U.S. LNG projects on both the West and East Coasts, but the Tampa project is the only one announced thus far.

BP is considering shipping liquefied natural gas into the Port of Tampa and has taken an option to build a $200 million import terminal that could be completed in about four years. BP had said previously it would consider U.S. LNG projects on both the West and East Coasts, but the Tampa project is the only one announced thus far.

The Pacific Northwest, historically a great corridor forshipping western Canadian natural gas to California’s burgeoningmarkets, is getting increasing attention for expansion ordevelopment of natural gas storage to fuel its own growth, whichhas averaged 5% annually in the 1990s. The region’s only twounderground storage facilities are in the midst of expansions, andenergy players within and outside the region are searching for newstorage prospects-under-and above-ground.