Daily GPI

California regulators Thursday released a final environmentalimpact report for the state’s second merchant underground naturalgas storage project in the Sacramento Valley of northernCalifornia. Absent new opposition from surrounding landowners,Texas-based Western Hub Properties hopes to have its $80 millionstorage project operating by the end of this year, following ayear’s delay in the approval process for environmental review.

Coastal Gas Gathering and Processing experienced a fire Thursdayat its Dragon Trail (CO) Plant that caused one injury and limitedreceipts into Northwest, Questar, CIG and Public Service Co. ofColorado. Dragon Trail throughput was reduced temporarily to zeroFriday but was being restored by that afternoon, a spokesman said.Full output was expected to be reached by Friday night or Saturday,he said.

Despite spring-like weather here, there and almost everywhere,this week’s price erosion came to a halt Thursday as many pointsturned in flat performances and a few managed small rallies.

With little in the way of fresh news, natural gas futures limpedmostly sideways yesterday as cautious summer bulls matched upnearly perfectly with March bears. In fact, the only notablefeature in Thursday’s session was a rash of market-on-close buying,which firmed prices at the end. The March contract advanced 1.9cents to finish at $2.549 on its penultimate trading day.

Amerada Hess agreed to buy gas and power marketer Statoil EnergyServices Inc. of Alexandria, VA. Statoil serves industrial andcommercial customers, mainly in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland,Virginia and Washington, D.C.

An irate Koch Gateway Pipeline told FERC this week that DynegyMarketing and Trade, Amoco Energy Trading and Marathon Oil don’thave a clue how to run a gas pipeline and should refrain fromattempting to understand how its parking and lending service (PAL)works. Despite being totally devoid of any factual basis, theirjoint protest filed last week with the Commission wasn’t totallyunexpected, however, Koch said.

PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd. made a gas discovery offshore NovaScotia. In the past year, the company has drilled two explorationwells into geological zones under the Panuke oil field, about 155miles southeast of Halifax. During testing, each well flowed atmore than 50 MMcf/d, the maximum capacity of the testing equipment.The wells, PP-3C and PI-1B, intersected net pay of more than 230feet and 100 feet, respectively.

As part of its portfolio rationalization effort, Texaco saidyesterday that it has agreed to sell $161.1 million worth ofsouthwestern and Midcontinent properties to Bargo Energy. Theeffective date of the purchase is January 1, 2000 and closing isexpected to occur late in the first quarter of this year.

Sabine Pipe Line Co. has gotten the go-ahead from FERC torestructure its business as a limited liability company to takeadvantage of certain state and franchise tax benefits and gaingreater flexibility to raise capital.