The State of Alaska has hired Petrie Parkman & Co. of Denver to act as a financial adviser to evaluate the state’s potential participation in owning an interest in or financing a North Slope natural gas pipeline project. Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles has proposed federal legislation that would mandate a natural gas pipeline along the Alaska Highway, and called for federal tax incentives to enable companies to bring North Slope gas to market. Petrie Parkman will assist the Alaska commissioner of revenue in preparing a comprehensive report addressing options for and analysis of the state’s potential participation in a gas pipe project. The assistance was provided under the authority of Alaska’s Senate Bill 158. The report, when completed, would be presented to the governor and the state legislature and would include an examination of each of the announced North Slope pipe proposals. The report also would analyze whether and how the state could take an equity ownership or other financial interest in the project.
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PanCanadian Expects Spin Off By Month’s End, More Growth
PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd. will spin off from Canadian Pacific Ltd. (CP) by Oct. 1, leaving PanCanadian with a market value of C$11.7 billion and a place on the top five list of North American exploration and production companies, CFO Wesley Twiss said last week. With the breakup, PanCanadian will have a new name — PanCanadian Energy — and seats on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges. In return, CP will distribute its 85% interest to shareholders at a ratio of 0.684 per share for each CP share.
GAO Warns of Possible Litigation Over Energy Policy Documents
Comptroller General David M. Walker said Friday he received an “inadequate” amount of information related to the development of the Bush administration’s energy policy from the vice president’s office in response to a request from the General Accounting Office (GAO) and was “preparing for possible litigation.” It would be the first time the investigative branch of Congress went to court against the executive branch.
TransCanada, National Fuel Propose 215-Mile Pipeline
TransCanada PipeLines Ltd. and National Fuel Gas Co. last Wednesday proposed a new 215-mile, 30-inch natural gas pipeline project that would provide initial capacity of 500 MMcf/d from Dawn, ON to the Ellisburg-Leidy area in Pennsylvania. The companies said they made the decision to begin the Northwinds Pipeline, which will cost $350-$400 million, after examining initial technical, environmental and market assessments in Canada and the United States.
Peoples Reorganizes to Enhance Its Utility Operations
Announcing that it wanted to enhance its utility operations “while maximizing the potential of its diversified businesses,” Peoples Energy Corp. said last Thursday it would reorganize its personnel management, as well as consolidate its support services into a new business services unit. Among the many changes, Tom Patrick, president and COO and a company director, added the title of vice chairman of the operating subsidiaries.
CA Natural Gas Studies Lining Up
With a new major entity in the state’s energy mix — a $5 billion power authority — California’s lineup of pending natural gas and electricity reports is growing, and two existing ones are getting more fine-tuning at the state’s energy commission. After the five-member California Energy Commission postponed adopting reports on electricity/natural gas “trends” and the state’s gas transmission/storage infrastructure, revised versions of those studies may be delayed until Sept. 19, according to energy commission sources.
TransCanada Scrambling for Volumes, Revenues
TransCanada PipeLines’ fast action last week in replacing the abandoned Millennium Pipeline proposal — for the time being, at least — with a less environmentally-challenged new export route to the northeastern United States, is just the latest action in the pipeline company’s campaign to drum up increased traffic or raise its rates to cover what it calls the costs of competition.
Enbridge Subsidiary to Market Gas to New Brunswick
Calgary-based Enbridge has launched a new company, Enbridge Atlantic Energy Services Inc., to sell natural gas commodity contracts to customers in New Brunswick. The company said last week that consumers who are considering the switch to natural gas for their heating needs now have more choices when purchasing their gas supply.
El Paso Affiliates Want Settlement ALJ on the Case
El Paso Natural Gas Co. and El Paso Merchant Energy (EPME) Friday filed a petition with FERC, seeking the appointment of an administrative law judge to facilitate settlement negotiations with California regulators over charges that El Paso abused market power and affiliate regulations in the transportation of gas along its Southwest pipeline system. The El Paso companies emphasized that the motion does not represent a retreat “in any way from their position” that they did not engage in market power in the California gas market, artificially raise gas or electricity prices, or engage in affiliate abuse.
Santa Fe, Global Marine To Create Second Largest Offshore Driller
In a $3 billion stock swap, Santa Fe International Corp. agreed last week to purchase Global Marine Inc., which will create the world’s second largest offshore oil and natural gas driller, behind Transocean Sedco Forex. The merger of the equals gives them more flexibility to serve the marketplace and provide equipment for customers anywhere in the world, especially with many of their shared customers now merged.
