Still

Just in case there were any doubters still out there, AlliancePipeline says it now has nine of 10 mainline construction crews inthe field installing the $3 billion pipeline system. The crewsstarted construction on two spreads in North Dakota, one inMinnesota, two in Iowa and one in Illinois. Two spreads inSaskatchewan are to start today and one early next week.

An April 2 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission suggests the rumored sale of Enron’s controlling interest in Enron Oil &Gas (EOG) could be in the offing. In the filing, Enron confirmed it is pondering a potential sale of its exploration and production arm among other possibilities.

An April 2 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commissionsuggests the rumored sale of Enron’s controlling interest in EnronOil & Gas (EOG) could be in the offing. In the filing, Enronsaid it is pondering EOG’s potential sale among other possibilitiesfor the exploration and production arm of the energy giant.

The British are coming back to the merger table. Still digestingits acquisition of Amoco, British Petroleum last week scrolled onenotch down the alphabetic menu of E&ampP companies to rest itshungry eyes on Atlantic Richfield Co. (Arco).

While just a smidgen of its project would be in Canada, Vectorstill needed – and got yesterday – approval from Canada’s NationalEnergy Board (NEB). “This is a significant milestone and supportsVector’s status as the most advanced project to meet increasingdemand for natural gas for markets east of Chicago,” said VectorVice President Juri Otsason. Vector expects to receive finalcertification from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)in the second quarter, which will represent the final step inregulatory approvals.

With little in the way of fundamental support to speak of, cashprices still managed gains between a nickel and a dime Tuesday atalmost every trading point. “It’s got to be technical,” said autility buyer. The tone was set by the screen opening around $1.80,a dime higher than Monday’s opening, even though the April contracteventually ended the day with a small net loss, he said. Anothersource thought it was a case of cash starting to converge with thescreen.

Prices for the concluding weekend of February maintained thesoftening trend that had started earlier in the week, ranging fromflat to a little over a dime lower. And although swing gas tradedFriday for today’s flow only was flat at a few points, most sourcesagreed that the initial March aftermarket was trending downwardoverall from both bidweek indexes and weekend levels.

Details were still somewhat sparse Saturday, but Northwest Pipeline was able to confirm that there had been a line failure on its pipeline near Stevenson, WA Friday night about 8:20 (PST). Personnel were immediately dispatched to the site to secure the area. As of press time Saturday, no injuries were reported and the cause of the incident was under investigation.

Lower costs and the opportunity to control their own supply arestill the main drivers of industrial bypass of local distributioncompanies, the energy manager for U.S. Gypsum told state regulatorsyesterday.