Unusual

In an unusual move last Wednesday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, without any prodding from the courts, vacated an order that authorized Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line to spin off its 400-mile South Texas mainline and lateral facilities to an unaffiliated Texas intrastate pipeline, Enbridge Pipelines LP.

In an unusual move Wednesday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, without any prodding from the courts, vacated an order that authorized Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line to spin off its 400-mile South Texas mainline and lateral facilities to an unaffiliated Texas intrastate pipeline, Enbridge Pipelines LP.

Although the recent climb in Lower 48 natural gas prices is currently being interpreted as “unusual,” Lehman Brothers chemical analyst Sergey Vasnetsov said expensive U.S. natural gas could become “normal” in 2003-06. In Lehman Brothers’ first “Natural Gas Fever” report, Vasnetsov said a major “step-up” in the future average natural gas price could have profound implications on the U.S. chemical industry.

Although the recent climb in Lower 48 natural gas prices is currently being interpreted as “unusual,” Lehman Brothers chemical analyst Sergey Vasnetsov said expensive U.S. natural gas could become “normal” in 2003-06. In Lehman Brothers’ first “Natural Gas Fever” report, Vasnetsov said a major “step-up” in the future average natural gas price could have profound implications on the U.S. chemical industry.

The unusual natural gas prices and basis spreads this summer — with a spike in New York and a crash in the Rockies — may be confusing, but they are consistent with North America’s integrated market and only reflect a “rational” market response to regional circumstances rather than any underlying manipulation by market players, according to the latest report by Energy and Environmental Analysis Inc. (EEA).

The unusual natural gas prices and basis spreads this summer — with a spike in New York and a crash in the Rockies — may be confusing, but they are consistent with North America’s integrated market and only reflect a “rational” market response to regional circumstances rather than any underlying manipulation by market players, according to the latest report by Energy and Environmental Analysis Inc. (EEA).

In a highly unusual, if not unprecedented, move, FERC announced Friday that it will reconsider its decision to allow Williams to reactivate and expand its Cove Point liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal plant in Maryland, even before rehearing petitions are due at the Commission.

In a highly unusual, if not unprecedented, move, FERC announced Friday that it will reconsider its decision to allow Williams to reactivate and expand its Cove Point liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal plant in Maryland, even before rehearing petitions are due at the Commission.

Displaying an unusual amount of public candor last week, the parent company CEO of near-bankrupt Southern California Edison Co., Rosemead, CA, bared his corporate soul to a Los Angeles business leaders’ forum, admitting bankruptcy for the utility is a very real possibility unless there is an eleventh-hour reprieve granted by the state legislature.