Staff

Black Hills Corp. said Thursday it purchased 40 Bcf of Piceance Basin gas reserves from Koch Exploration for an undisclosed sum. The company said the deal nearly doubles its acreage position in the Piceance of western Colorado, which has become one of the Rocky Mountain region’s hottest drilling areas and a major supply source for proposed gas pipeline expansions out of the region.

Stone Energy Corp. said Friday the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has launched an informal inquiry into the company’s proved reserves revision and financial restatements. Stone, which revised its oil and natural gas reserves downward by 171 Bcfe in October, said it intends to cooperate.

FERC Chairman Pat Wood III, who has headed the agency since 2001, announced to his staff Wednesday that he will leave the Commission when his term expires on June 30. He will return to Texas, although in a press briefing with reporters Wood didn’t articulate any specific plans for his next career move. Commissioner Joseph Kelliher may be selected by the Bush administration as a likely replacement for Wood, if only temporarily.

Avista Corp., staff of the Washington State regulatory agency and Northwest Industrial Gas Users on Friday said they reached a settlement agreement that would reduce the Spokane, WA-based distributor’s requested rate increase for its Washington State customers.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission staff said it will prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the proposed Golden Pass LNG Terminal and Pipeline Project, owned by ExxonMobil. The proposed facilities would consist of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal and interconnecting pipelines near Sabine Pass, TX, 10 miles south of Port Arthur; with a 1 Bcf/d capacity, expandable to 2 Bcf/d, targeted for late 2008. ExxonMobil and Qatar Petroleum have signed an agreement to supply 15.6 million tons a year of LNG (2 Bcf/d) to the United States from Qatar for 25 years. The proposed project joined the FERC pre-filing process in November 2003. The proposed facility mirrors another ExxonMobil proposal, the Vista del Sol project on the Texas coast near Corpus Christi, which entered the pre-filing process at FERC in January of this year. The Commission’s notice earlier this week follows on a notice of environmental review and scoping issued by FERC in January. It offers a final opportunity for parties, including other government agencies to submit comments on the project’s environmental impact.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission staff said it will prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the proposed Golden Pass LNG Terminal and Pipeline Project, owned by ExxonMobil. The proposed facilities would consist of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal and interconnecting pipelines near Sabine Pass, TX, 10 miles south of Port Arthur; with a 1 Bcf/d capacity, expandable to 2 Bcf/d, targeted for late 2008. ExxonMobil and Qatar Petroleum have signed an agreement to supply 15.6 million tons a year of LNG (2 Bcf/d) to the United States from Qatar for 25 years. The proposed project joined the FERC pre-filing process in November 2003. The proposed facility mirrors another ExxonMobil proposal, the Vista del Sol project on the Texas coast near Corpus Christi, which entered the pre-filing process at FERC in January of this year (see Daily GPI, Nov. 21, 2003). The Commission’s notice earlier this week follows on a notice of environmental review and scoping issued by FERC in January. It offers a final opportunity for parties, including other government agencies to submit comments on the project’s environmental impact.

Florida Gas Transmission (FGT) said compressor station 12 in Munson, FL, was damaged by high winds. While staff is en route to the station to assist with repairs, damage to roads and bridges have slowed down travel time. For Friday’s gas day, FGT will be scheduling volumes up to 1.5 Bcf/d into the market area. Scheduled volumes into the market area have been about 2 Bcf/d for the past couple of days. If the damage is repaired overnight, FGT will determine if scheduled volumes can be brought up above the 1.5 Bcf/d. The pipeline had an overage alert day on Thursday with a 2% tolerance. Demand on the system continues to be high, while supply remains tight. FGT continues to experienced further decline in receipt gas in Zones 2 and 3. Total system linepack is very low.

Capgemini Energy LP, a joint venture formed by Capgemini America Inc. and TXU Corp., began operation on Thursday with a complete leadership structure drawn from both parent companies.

Charles Fox, deputy chief of staff for New York Gov. George Pataki, last Thursday disclosed that the state will soon issue regulations detailing the framework on how to site liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in the Empire State.