Temporary

Three years after Michigan Gov. John Engler called a temporary moratorium on the practice of vertically drilling from shore to reach oil and gas deposits beneath the Great Lakes, the Michigan Natural Resources Commission has given its “overwhelming support” for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to approve procedures to resume leasing oil and gas property there. Since the 1970s, 13 oil and gas wells had been dug in the lakes, and seven are still in operation.

Three years after Michigan Gov. John Engler called a temporary moratorium on the practice of vertically drilling from shore to reach oil and gas deposits beneath the Great Lakes, the Michigan Natural Resources Commission has given its “overwhelming support” for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to approve procedures to resume leasing oil and gas property there. Since the 1970s, 13 oil and gas wells had been dug in the lakes, and seven are still in operation.

Rising production in Canada — pushed by the Ladyfern discovery in Western Canada — could exacerbate a “temporary” natural gas oversupply situation in the United States, which in turn could lead to falling North American natural gas prices, lower earnings and declining cash flow estimates for 2002, according to Lehman Brothers analysts Thomas Driscoll and Phil Skolnick in a research note released last Thursday. This gas surge, said the analysts, could send gas prices falling to the $2.25-2.50/MMBtu range for a “sustained period of time” — meaning months, not weeks.

Rising production in Canada — pushed by the Ladyfern discovery in Western Canada — could exacerbate a “temporary” natural gas oversupply situation in the United States, which in turn could lead to falling North American natural gas prices, lower earnings and declining cash flow estimates for 2002, according to Lehman Brothers analysts Thomas Driscoll and Phil Skolnick in a research note released Thursday. This gas surge, said the analysts, could send gas prices falling to the $2.25-2.50/MMBtu range for a “sustained period of time” — meaning months, not weeks.

Sonat said Monday it had completed temporary repairs to its Logansport, LA facilities. Gas flow was resumed for 59 upstream receipt points in the Logansport and Joaquin Fields that had been shut in by the work Saturday (see Daily GPI, April 23). Further evaluation is being done to develop a permanent repair plan, Sonat said.

Destin Pipeline canceled Friday morning a force majeure that hadbeen issued on the previous afternoon due to a temporary shutdownof the BP Amoco Pascagoula (MS) Processing Plant. Destin had askedplatform operators to reduce production to 25% of scheduledquantities until the plant came back on-line.

Joe B. Foster, the new chief — at least for now — of BakerHughes Inc., is promising improved performance to shareholders inthe wake laggard stock performance and the disclosure of accountingirregularities that have launched a slew of investor lawsuits.

Joe B. Foster, the new chief — at least for now — of BakerHughes Inc., is promising improved performance to shareholders inthe wake of the disclosure of accounting irregularities that havelaunched a slew of investor lawsuits.

FERC has granted Transcontinental Gas Pipeline a “temporary,limited term waiver” of its tariff to require advancecapacity-release offers and nominations for the first week of theYear 2000 by Dec. 27 and 28, respectively. The waiver would extendthrough Jan. 7, Transco said, and would only be used in the eventof an unanticipated systems failure or other Y2K-related problems.