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Houston-based El Paso Corp. announced Friday it has agreed to sell its 14.4% interest in the Canadian and U.S. segments of the Alliance Pipeline, Aux Sable natural gas liquids (NGL) plant and associated facilities to Calgary-based Enbridge Inc. for an estimated $165 million. At the same time, Fort Chicago Energy Partners, also based in Calgary, AB, said it was taking steps to increase its share of the Canada-to-U.S. pipeline.

The third offer proved the charm for Unocal Corp., which finally obtained an agreement to acquire the remaining 35% interest in Pure Resources Inc. that it does not already own. Pure Resources had twice rejected an exchange share offer from the El Segundo, CA-based producer, but was finally persuaded by an offer that gave its shareholders a 35% premium and Unocal sole control.

NiSource Inc. will sell off its two-year-old North American natural gas-focused exploration and production businesses, which include Columbia Energy Resources Inc. and affiliate Columbia Natural Resources Inc. (CNR) to focus on its core, regulated generation assets and debt reduction, management said on Friday.

Last week may prove memorable for what it wasn’t, as much as for what it was, when it came to energy companies and the New York Stock Exchange. It was a miserable week, all in all, with the only bright edges seen on Friday, when the shares of most of the merchants and utilities saw a little daylight. Wary investors may have hedged their bets a little, because energy stocks were lower overall than they’ve been in years.

The current commissioners on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission “may be planting the seeds for a massive failure of the energy infrastructure,” a veteran market analyst said on Wednesday, citing “the most unprecedented and blatantly political decision” made by FERC’s chief law judge against El Paso Corp.

Houston-based El Paso Corp. announced Friday it has agreed to sell its 14.4% interest in the Canadian and U.S. segments of the Alliance Pipeline, Aux Sable natural gas liquids (NGL) plant and associated facilities to Calgary-based Enbridge Inc. for an estimated $165 million. At the same time, Fort Chicago Energy Partners, also based in Calgary, AB, said it was taking steps to increase its share of the Canada-to-U.S. pipeline.

As the natural gas industry revs up for the coming winter, Fitch Ratings said three industry trends will likely affect the credit quality of the U.S. natural gas pipeline sector in the near term. The negative overhang of ongoing parent company-level credit problems and liquidity issues, increasing regulatory scrutiny, and evolving counterparty credit risk could alter the outlook for U.S. natural gas pipelines, according to an article appearing in the latest Fitch Ratings Oil & Gas Insights newsletter.

Following last year’s record warm winter and lower energy prices, Yankee Gas warned that consumers can expect to pay higher energy prices “across the board” this heating season. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) said demand for gas is expected to increase 12% compared to last year, assuming normal weather.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (KMP) late Thursday announced three more expansions to its growing terminals business, with a $36 million investment to purchase two terminal facilities located along the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, as well as a long-term contract to build additional storage capacity at KMP’s liquids terminal in New York Harbor.