Water

El Paso Energy Partners has installed the new Prince Tension Leg Platform (TLP) facility in 1,450 feet of water on Ewing Bank Block 1003. The platform is located about 120 miles south of New Orleans and will gather and process oil and gas production from the Prince Field. It also will serve as a landing spot for future oil and gas developments in the Ewing Bank and Green Canyon areas of the deepwater trend.

California last week completed a $4.3 billion bridge loan to allow the state Department of Water Resources (DWR) to buy power over the next two months before a major $13 billion, 15-year bond sale is completed, freeing the state’s general fund surplus from being tapped for the $20-30 million of daily bulk spot power market purchases. The overall interest rate at closing was 4.14%.

California Tuesday completed a $4.3 billion bridge loan to allow the state Department of Water Resources (DWR) to buy power over the next two months before a major $13 billion, 15-year bond sale is completed, freeing the state’s general fund surplus from being tapped for the $20-30 million of daily bulk spot power market purchases. The overall interest rate at closing was 4.14%.

Calpine Corp. signed two more long-term contracts withCalifornia’s water resources department (DWR) to provide up to1,500 MW collectively in deals that span 10 and 20 years. The valueof the contracts was estimated at $8.3 billion.

A threatened shut-in of 250 MMcf/d or more of deep-water gasproduction connected to Southern Natural Gas Co.’s system wasaverted — at least temporarily — as the owners of keyprocessing facilities in Louisiana last Thursday re-started some oftheir operations to satisfy the long-line pipeline, which claimedthe production fell short of its specifications for delivery. Theproducers, however, said their gas more than met Southern Natural’squality specs, and that they were being unfairly held to a higherstandard than other shippers on the pipeline’s system.

Investigations in several states are getting under way intoalleged illegal profit-taking by UtiliCorp United in Missouri,Michigan, Nebraska, Minnesota and Iowa. An anonymous letter fromsomeone who claimed to be a current employee for UtiliCorp was sentto state regulators alleging the company’s Gas Supply ServiceDepartment (GSS) took part in improper actions in reselling naturalgas to customers in these states.

Investigations in several states are getting under way intoalleged illegal profit-taking by UtiliCorp United in Missouri,Michigan, Nebraska, Minnesota and Iowa. An anonymous letter fromsomeone who claimed to be a current employee for UtiliCorp was sentto state regulators alleging the company’s Gas Supply ServiceDepartment (GSS) took part in improper actions in reselling naturalgas to customers in these states.

California’s rural counties representing powerful water andagricultural interests that have always carried a lot of clout instate political arenas have stepped into the ongoing electricitypublic debate advocating changes in the auction process in thestate-run wholesale spot power market.

Except for the deep-water Gulf of Mexico, major producers haveessentially “thrown in the towel” in the U.S. oil and gas marketand are traipsing overseas to find their fortunes, a top executivewith The Coastal Corp. said last week. As a result, he believesmost of the burden to supply a 30 Tcf natural gas market in theUnited States will fall to independent producers.