Voted

The Senate voted unanimously Friday to amend its broad energy bill to include previously passed legislation calling for stricter safety standards for natural gas and hazardous liquids pipelines.

The Port of Houston Authority commissioners, who manage the public facilities along the Houston Ship Channel, have voted to appeal a January ruling by U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes who ruled that the Port, and not companies, should pay the cost of lowering pipelines to accommodate the deepening of the channel. At least 87 pipelines, containing chemicals, petroleum products and natural gas, may be involved at a cost of $1 million each.

The Port of Houston Authority commissioners, who manage the public facilities along the Houston Ship Channel, have voted to appeal a January ruling by U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes who ruled that the Port, and not companies, should pay the cost of lowering pipelines to accommodate the deepening of the channel. At least 87 pipelines, containing chemicals, petroleum products and natural gas, may be involved at a cost of $1 million each.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Wednesday voted to approve the proposed North Baja Pipeline, which will deliver 500 MMcf/d of natural gas from a connection with El Paso Natural Gas near Ehrenberg, AZ, to gas distribution systems and new power plants in northern Mexico and Southern California.

Upon urgings from its staff, the Georgia Public Service Commission (GPSC) voted unanimously on Tuesday to establish a schedule of hearings regarding an earnings review for Atlanta Gas Light Co. (AGLC), which the Commission staff said is earning between 4% and 7% more than its authorized return on equity (ROE).

Supply-hungry natural gas producers have voted with their wallets to name Nova Scotia a drilling hot spot for the next five years. With Marathon Canada Ltd. leading the pack, nine producers pledged to do C$527 million (US$350 million) in exploration work as the price for obtaining access to 15,800 square kilometers of sub-sea gas prospects from the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board.

Supply-hungry natural gas producers have voted with their wallets to name Nova Scotia a drilling hot spot for the next five years. With Marathon Canada Ltd. leading the pack, nine producers pledged to do C$527 million (US$350 million) in exploration work as the price for obtaining access to 15,800 square kilometers of sub-sea gas prospects from the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) has voted 2-to-1 to prevent the state’s largest utility, Oklahoma Natural Gas Co. (ONG), from collecting unrecovered gas costs associated with last winter’s costs. The vote will prevent ONG, which had already begun to collect the costs, to stop collecting an estimated $45 million in total costs from customers beginning Dec. 1, but the commission did not vote to give customers any refunds. ONG said it may appeal.

The U.S. Senate and House voted out a $19.1 billion spending package last Wednesday that dropped a controversial amendment to defer drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico (GOM), an area referred to as the “offshore oil and gas backbone of this country.”