Took

Westcoast took its McMahon Plant off-line at midafternoon Sundayfor unplanned repairs to the inlet facility. Authorized volumes forSunday’s gas day were cut in half. A force majeure declaration forMcMahon was lifted early Monday morning.

Determined to fight to the end, NiSource took its $68/shareoffer ($5.6 billion) directly to Columbia Energy Group shareholderson Friday. It also filed litigation against Columbia and itsdirectors in the Delaware Chancery Court in an attempt to gain anopportunity to nominate a director to fill a vacant seat onColumbia’s board.

Exxon and Mobil took an eagerly anticipated step towardcompleting their merger yesterday as shareholders for bothcompanies approved the combination. Mobil received 98% shareholderapproval for the deal and Exxon received 99%. The votes were heldat separate hotels in Dallas, TX.

FERC took a major step last week toward regional operation ofthe electric transmission grid by issuing a notice of proposedrulemaking (NOPR) that seeks to promote the formation of regionaltransmission organizations (RTOs) nationwide.

FERC took a major step Wednesday towards regional operation ofthe electric transmission grid by issuing a notice of proposedrulemaking (NOPR) that seeks to promote the formation of regionaltransmission organizations (RTOs) nationwide.

After rallying more than 15 cent from last weeks lows, naturalgas futures took a breather Wednesday, trading sideways within atight 4.5-cent range. The June contract settled unchanged for theday at $2.359.

Regulations pertaining to the construction of new pipelineprojects took the spotlight at FERC last week, with the Commissionissuing a final rule aimed at updating and streamlining thecertificate process for new projects, while at the same timeproposing an initiative that would give landowners greaterparticipation in the process.

Regulations pertaining to the construction of new pipelineprojects took the spotlight at FERC yesterday, with the Commissionapproving a final rule aimed at updating and streamlining thecertificate process for new projects, including a change in thetimetable for the filing of project-related environmental data.FERC also proposed an initiative that would give landowners greaterparticipation in the certification process.

It took FERC only a few days to recognize that ANR Pipeline’sMarch 8 application for a second Wisconsin expansion project in 18months fails to meet the Commission’s test for showing market need.