Third

Sonat said the offshore Main Pass 72 receipt point was shut in due to a leak on a third-party pipeline between the platform and Sonat’s line. A crew was on-site Friday to investigate the leak. Due to this work, Sonat was not scheduling gas from the point effective with Friday’s evening cycle until further notice.

Williams said it completed a $45 million gathering and processing system upgrade in Wamsutter, WY. The project included the addition of a third cryogenic gas processing unit at the Echo Springs natural gas plant, boosting capacity by about 140 MMcf/d to 390 MMcf/d and liquids extraction from 18,000 b/d to 28,000 b/d. Williams also expanded the pipeline gathering system that brings natural gas into the plant for processing. Capacity on the system was increased from 330 MMcf/d to roughly 400 MMcf/d.

With substantial interests in two privately-owned natural gas utilities that supply about one-third of the gas in Argentina, San Diego, CA-based Sempra Energy said last week that the South American nation’s current political and economic upheaval has had no adverse impact thus far on its energy infrastructure investments, but a spokesperson said the company was “obviously monitoring the situation closely.”

With substantial interests in two privately-owned natural gas utilities that supply about one-third of the gas in Argentina, San Diego, CA-based Sempra Energy said Monday the South American nation’s current political and economic upheaval has had no adverse impact thus far on its energy infrastructure investments, but a spokesperson said the company was “obviously monitoring the situation closely.”

Cheniere Energy has acquired an option to purchase a third land site for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in Texas. The site near Sabine Pass, TX, will be used to build a receiving terminal that would deliver up to 1 Bcf/d of gas into the interstate pipeline grid. Cheniere had previously announced the acquisition of options for sites with port authorities at Freeport and Brownsville, TX, and still plans to line up a fourth site.

Cheniere Energy has acquired an option to purchase a third land site for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in Texas. The site near Sabine Pass, TX, will be used to build a receiving terminal that would deliver up to 1 Bcf/d of gas into the interstate pipeline grid. Cheniere had previously announced the acquisition of options for sites with port authorities at Freeport and Brownsville, TX, and still plans to line up a fourth site.

Among the sea of red ink flooding the U.S. economy’s third-quarter earnings reports, San Jose, CA-based Calpine Corp., the merchant power plant developer/operator, Thursday stood out as a glaring exception, reporting a 102% increase in net income for the quarter ($320.8 million versus $158.5 million for the same quarter in 2000) and a 292% increase in quarterly revenues ($2.9 billion versus $744.8 million for year-earlier period). Diluted earnings/share were up 80% to 88 cents for the quarter.

Michael C. Morgan has been elected president of Kinder Morgan Inc., Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP and Kinder Morgan Management, LLC. Morgan will become the third member of the Office of the Chairman, joining Richard D. Kinder, chairman and CEO, and William V. Morgan, vice chairman. “Mike has been a core member of our senior management team since the company was formed in February of 1997, and he has demonstrated outstanding leadership and strategic acumen in spearheading Kinder Morgan’s acquisition efforts,” Kinder said. He noted KMP has made 23 accretive acquisitions totaling more than $5 billion in the past four and one-half years. Going forward William Morgan said earnings growth would “come half from internal growth and half from additional acquisitions. Mike Morgan served as vice president of strategy and investor relations from January of 2000 to the present, and as vice president of corporate development from 1997 to 2000. He previously worked in McKinsey & Co.’s energy practice and for PSI Energy, Inc.

After overcoming an early setback, natural gas bulls stole the show for the third-straight session yesterday, as commercial traders propelled the futures market past several important technical levels. By virtue of its 12.2-cent advance and $4.301 closing price, the July contract has rebounded almost 60 cents from last Friday’s lows to notch a new three-week high.