Status

In response to “numerous requests” for new storage service due to the fully subscribed status of its existing firm storage services, Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline Inc. has launched an open season to solicit binding bids for new firm service in the Midcontinent.

A coalition of Democratic senators led by Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico has called on Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to keep closer tabs on the status of oil and natural gas production from federal lands that have already been leased.

Canadian royalty trusts in the oil and gas sector had a decade-long bull run until the Canadian government mounted a plan to strip them of their favorable tax status for distributions (see NGI, Nov. 6). The plan to tax the trusts could very well spark a movement of investment dollars southward and American exploration and production (E&P) activity northward, said David Marcell, TriStone Capital managing director, acquisitions and divestitures.

Canadian royalty trusts in the oil and gas sector had a decade-long bull run until the Canadian government mounted a plan to strip them of their favorable tax status for distributions (see Daily GPI, Nov. 2). The plan to tax the trusts could very well spark a movement of investment dollars southward and American exploration and production (E&P) activity northward, said David Marcell, TriStone Capital managing director, acquisitions and divestitures.

Maintaining the status quo in natural gas utility rate design may be costly to consumers, utilities and society, but innovative rate designs and true-up mechanisms could align the interests of all stakeholders, according to a white paper by the American Gas Foundation (AGF).

The cash market was mixed Tuesday because of slightly weaker futures prices (October down 3.4 cents to $11.657) and continuing uncertainty over the status of Gulf production and the extent of the damage to Gulf infrastructure. Daily cash price changes were anywhere from down nearly $2 in the case of Florida Gas Transmission’s Zone 2 and 3 to up about 30 cents at a couple of Gulf Coast points.

California Superior Court Judge Ronald Prager in San Diego held a status conference last week in a multi-billion-dollar class action lawsuit against Sempra Energy regarding its role in wholesale natural gas price spikes in 1996. Sempra CEO Stephen Baum told analysts on Tuesday that the judge has laid out an ambitious timeline for the upcoming trial as settlement talks continue among the parties.

After reaching a $7.770 high early during Friday’s session on news that Hurricane Dennis had reached Category Four status, August natural gas futures spent almost the rest of the day methodically winding their way lower. The prompt month notched a low of $7.420 before settling at $7.472, up 7.4 cents on the day and 30.1 cents higher than the previous week’s close.

Kerr-McGee Corp. said Tuesday that it has authorized management to proceed with a proposal to either spin off or sell its chemical business, and the board authorized a share repurchase initially set at $1 billion, which may be expanded after the chemical unit is sold or spun off. The company also blasted a proposal by financier and shareholder Carl Icahn, who called on the company to set up a volumetric production payment (VPP) transaction for 250 million boe.