Status

Construction of the Willcox Lateral to the Mexican border was about 75% complete as of the beginning of May, El Paso Natural Gas said in a status update on the project. Work on the line began in April, and final state and federal regulatory permitting is in progress, El Paso said.

In seeking FERC certification as a regional transmissionorganization (RTO) last week, PJM Interconnection LLC and its ninetransmission owners claimed the regional independent systemoperator (ISO) already possessed the characteristics and functionsrequired by the Commission’s Order 2000 to qualify as an RTO.

In seeking FERC certification as a regional transmissionorganization (RTO) yesterday, PJM Interconnection LLC and its ninetransmission owners claimed the regional independent systemoperator (ISO) already possesses the characteristics and functionsrequired by the Commission’s Order 2000 to qualify as an RTO.

A close look at the status of the nation’s gas resources lastyear reveals a lethargic industry barely able to build reserves.However, last year was an improvement over the year prior. Dry gasreserve additions reversed the 2% decline in 1998 and grew lastyear by 2.1% to 167,406 Bcf in the United States, according to anAdvance Summary: U.S. Crude Oil, Natural Gas and Natural GasLiquids Reserves 1999 Annual Report by the Energy InformationAdministration. Reserve additions replaced 118% of gas production.It was the fifth time in the past six years that reserves havegrown.

A close look at the status of the nation’s gas resources lastyear reveals a lethargic industry barely able to build reserves.However, last year was an improvement over the year prior. Dry gasreserve additions reversed the 2% decline in 1998 and grew lastyear by 2.1% to 167,406 Bcf in the United States, according to anAdvance Summary: U.S. Crude Oil, Natural Gas and Natural GasLiquids Reserves 1999 Annual Report by the Energy InformationAdministration. Reserve additions replaced 118% of gas production.It was the fifth time in the past six years that reserves havegrown.

Just so you’ll know: “The natural gas market is a real successstory. …FERC has gotten an enormous amount of things right. Themarket may not be unblemished, but there are lots who consider thenatural gas market the best market in the world offering genuineprice discovery on a daily basis across dozens of products. It’ssomething everyone should be proud of,” Robert Levin of the NewYork Mercantile Exchange told a FERC conference yesterday.

Indicative of the banged up status of the state’s aging fleet ofpower plants, the California Independent System Operator (Cal-ISO)declared its first weekend Stage One Alert last Saturday despitethe fact that peak demand was only 36,000 MW.

The New York Mercantile Exchange took two giant steps forward last week, announcing plans to become a for-profit organization and to launch a global electronic exchange for over-the-counter forward trading and clearing of a wide range of standardized physical commodity contracts.

The New York Mercantile Exchange took two giant steps forwardyesterday, announcing plans to become a for-profit organization andto launch a global electronic exchange for over-the-counter forwardtrading and clearing of a wide range of standardized physicalcommodity contracts.