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Rep. William M. “Mac” Thornberry (R-TX) introduced legislationWednesday aimed at “completely overhauling the current system” usedby the federal government to collect royalties on oil and naturalgas production.

One-call pipeline safety legislation moved much closer tobecoming law this week as the Senate voted to add it to omnibustransportation legislation and representatives Richard Hugh Baker(R-LA) and Frank Pallone (D-NJ) introduced a nearly identicalone-call bill in the House of Representatives. The Senate alreadyhas passed one-call as a stand alone bill (S. 1115) but includingit in the larger transportation package increases its chances ofbecoming law.

MCNIC Pipeline & Processing, a subsidiary of MCN EnergyGroup, and American Central Gas Companies, have formed apartnership to own and operate a gas gathering system in theCarthage field of East Texas. MCNIC Pipeline & Processing has a40% interest, and American Central holds 60%.

Six energy companies agreed to form Tri-States NGL Pipeline tobuild a natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline from Alabama andMississippi to Louisiana fractionators. The line will link threegas processing plants under construction to new and expandedfractionators on the Mississippi River.

Mitchell Energy & Development replaced 187% percent of thegas and oil reserves it produced in fiscal 1998, even while settinga new high for annual gas sales of 238 MMcf/d.

Canada’s National Energy Board approved six applications foreight licenses to export some 1.2 Tcf of gas for periods of two toten years:

Marking the start of construction related to projects thatultimately will increase pipeline capacity into New England by morethan 20%, Portland Natural Gas Transmission System (PNGTS) andMaritimes & Northeast Pipeline began a crossing of thePiscataqua River between Newington, NH, and Eliot, ME. The crossingis the first stage in the construction of the PNGTS/Maritimes JointFacilities Project, which represents the southernmost portion ofeach pipeline.

Union Pacific Resources Group (UPR) closed on its acquisition ofNorcen Energy Resources. The companies’ boards approved the dealJan. 26. UPR initiated a tender offer for the 51.5% of Norcen’s stock not owned or controlled by Noranda Inc., a shareholder of49.5% Norcen common stock.

“Total Energy” may be an “unforgettable” brand name in this ageof energy convergence, as the small New York energy services firmTotal Energy Corp. claims, but would someone actually buy the nameand make it their own? Total Energy’s consultant R.J. RuddenAssociates thinks so, though Richard J. Rudden, president of thefirm, admits he’s never heard of a company buying another’s brandname. “I can’t say I’ve heard of that. But I know it’s nothing fora large national energy company to spend tens of millions ofdollars on brand imaging.”