Units

Florida Gas Transmission has begun unscheduled maintenance on one of the two compressor units at its Transco St. Helena interconnect in South Louisiana, requiring a reduction of capacity at the point to 15,000 MMBtu/d starting Wednesday. Current estimates indicate that the unit will be down for seven to eight days, FGT said.

The two units at Trailblazer’s Compressor Station 602 in Lincoln County, CO remained out of service Thursday until further notice due to “a sudden mechanical/electrical failure.” Trailblazer has declared force majeure and said the completion date of repairs remains unknown. ITS/AOR and Secondary out-of-path transportation through the station are not available for scheduling. Primary and Secondary in-the-path firm nominated volumes will be prorated based on the shipper’s contract MDQ (Maximum Daily Quantity), the pipeline said.

Large losses continued during the second quarter at Aquila, but they were substantially smaller than in 2Q 2002 when the company reported a net loss of $810 million. Aquila, which is exiting energy trading and most of its merchant energy operations to focus on its core utility business, reported an $80.6 million net loss, or ($0.41)/share, during the second quarter of 2003.

Large losses continued during the second quarter at Aquila, but they were substantially smaller than in 2Q 2002 when the company reported a net loss of $810 million. Aquila, which is exiting energy trading and most of its merchant energy operations to focus on its core utility business, reported an $80.6 million net loss, or ($0.41)/share, during the second quarter of 2003.

American Electric Power (AEP) has extended a deadline for the submittal of bids on all 29 of the power generation units of its AEP Texas Central Co. subsidiary, which have a total capacity of 4,497 MW.

XTO Energy Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement with units of Williams to pay $400 million for some natural gas and coalbed methane (CBM) producing properties located in the Raton Basin of Colorado, Hugoton Field of southwestern Kansas and the San Juan Basin of New Mexico and Colorado. XTO estimates proved reserves to be 311 Bcfe, of which 77% are proved developed.

XTO Energy Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement with units of Williams to pay $400 million for some natural gas and coalbed methane (CBM) producing properties located in the Raton Basin of Colorado, Hugoton Field of southwestern Kansas and the San Juan Basin of New Mexico and Colorado. XTO estimates proved reserves to be 311 Bcfe, of which 77% are proved developed.

Abraxas Petroleum Corp. said last week that its Canadian units, Canadian Abraxas Petroleum Ltd. and Grey Wolf Exploration Inc., have agreed to sell certain reserves and associated gas processing plants in Western Canada to a Canadian royalty trust for approximately $138 million.

The British Columbia government last Monday unveiled an ambitious energy plan under which BC Hydro will be restructured into two separate Crown corporations, one for generation and distribution, and the other for transmission.