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      HOME  | GAS NEWS  | EVENTS  | JOBS  | BUSINESS CENTERS  | DIRECTORIES  | DATA CENTER    TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2001  	


 	   THIS ISSUE BROUGHT TO YOU BY       Gain exposure to thousands of energy professionals with your company's white papers today. Energy Central, the industry's most comprehensive on-line information resource is gathering white papers for inclusion the newest section of its Research Report Center. Don't be left out - to learn how to submit your white papers, e-mail mjohnson@energycentral.com. http://www.energycentral.com/sections/research /        TOP STORIES     Bingaman Builds Energy Bill; GOP Seeks Legislative Vehicles  Oct 29, 2001 - E?Publishing Another quiet week lies ahead for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.     El Paso's Capacity Allocation Proposal Hotly Debated, More To Come October 30  Oct. 30 (Btu Watch) On October 15, 2001, initial comments were filed by a multitude of parties following the technical conferences on July 18-19, 2001, and August 28, 2001, held by FERC to discuss El Paso's capacity allocation proposal and appear to put El Paso's CD customers and FR customers at odds. Special Offer from this Publisher!      Federal judge okays LNG tanker entry to Boston  BOSTON, Oct 29 (Reuters) A federal judge on Monday ruled that a tanker loaded with about 30 million gallons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) may enter Boston harbor to deliver its load, throwing out a lawsuit filed by Boston's mayor to block the delivery due to safety concerns.      Energy Security      Terrorism Boosts Security Fears At Nuclear, Pipeline, Electric Sites  Oct. 29 (Utility Spotlight) While there have always been some concerns about security in the energy industry, it took the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to force many sectors to think more seriously and to take steps to protect energy sites particularly nuclear, pipelines, transmission lines, storage facilities and the like across the nation. Special Offer from this Publisher!       Mergers, Acquisitions & Divestitures      BURLINGTON PLANS BRIGHT FUTURE WITH CANADIAN HUNTER ACQUISITION   Oct 29, 2001 (Gas Processors Report/PBI Media via COMTEX) -- Unfazed by depressed North American natural gas prices, Burlington Resources Inc. has announced plans to acquire Calgary-based Canadian Hunter Exploration Ltd. for US$2.1 billion (C$3.3 billion) in cash.      B.C. GAS AGREES TO ACQUIRE CENTRA GAS FROM WESTCOAST   Oct 29, 2001 (Petroleum Finance Week/PBI Media via COMTEX) -- B.C. Gas Inc. agreed to buy Centra Gas British Columbia Inc. and Centra Gas Whistler Inc. from Westcoast Energy Inc. last week for C$590 million.      Another Merger Opportunity for Gas Natural And Iberdrola  Oct 29, 2001 - FT World Media Abstracts via Comtex Spanish bank BBVA could now have another opportunity to promote a merger between Spanish power utility Iberdrola and gas company Gas Natural after two previous attempts foundered due to opposition from Iberdrola's managers.          ADVERTISEMENT    GasTrader has the information to help you see where prices are headed. Focusing on the future direction of natural gas prices, you can find yourself ahead of the crowd in no time. Receive a FREE 4-week trial to Gas Trader today. Visit Energy Central's Online Publications today to start your trial: http://www.energycentral.com/global/sho_pub.cfm?id=957          Gas Pricing/Hubs      NYMEX, cold weather lift U.S. spot natural gas  SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 29 (Reuters) Firm NYMEX trade and lingering heating demand in the Midwest and Northeast lifted U.S. spot natural gas prices Monday, market sources said.      Canada natgas follows U.S. cash and futures higher  NEW YORK, Oct 29 (Reuters) Canadian spot natural gas prices were stronger Monday, following U.S. cash and futures higher in lingering heating demand and bullish technicals, industry sources said.      NYMEX Hub gas ends up ahead of Nov. expiration  NEW YORK, Oct 29 (Reuters) NYMEX Hub gas firmed midday Monday in moderate trade, lifted by a stronger physical market and bullish technicals after last week's sharp gains, industry sources said.      Drilling/Exploration      Argentina: Wintershall invests US$150mil   Argentina, Oct 25, 2001 (El Cronista/SABI via COMTEX) -- The German oil company Wintershall confirmed it will invest US$150mil of the US$400mil to be invested by the consortium of Cuenca Marina Austral to develop the off shore gas fields Carina in the south of Argentina.      Futures      Nov Futures Hits 10-Week High in Pre-expiry Short-covering, Cold  Oct. 29 (Btu's Daily Gas Wire) November natural gas futures expired up 16.1 cents at $3.202 as colder near term weather triggered short-covering ahead of the nearby month's expiration this afternoon, said traders. Special Offer from this Publisher!       Pipelines      PAKISTAN INAUGURATES US$243.5 MLN GAS PIPELINE PROJECT   KARACHI, Oct 29, 2001 (AsiaPulse via COMTEX) -- The Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources, Usman Aminuddin, has inaugurated a mega project of laying gas pipeline in the Punjab at a cost of over Rs 15 billion (US$243.51 million).      Pipe dreams on the line   By Nigel Wilson, Oct 30, 2001 (The Australian - ABIX via COMTEX) -- The Australian gas pipeline industry has revealed that regulation changes are required to attract new pipelines.      Transparency Troubles Gas Pipeline Construction  Oct 29, 2001 - South American Business Information Market sources believe that the construction of the Paraguayan gas pipeline is unattractive for foreign investors due to lack of transparency and clear electric power energy regulation.      East China Province Seeks Investment for Gas Pipeline Project  Oct 29, 2001 - Xinhua News Agency East China's Jiangsu Province plans to raise capital totaling 20 billion yuan (2.43 billion U.S.dollars) for a 300 km section of the 4,200 km west-east natural gas pipeline under construction.      Gas pipeline ruptures, catches fire in Smolensk region  Oct 29 - ITAR - TASS News Wire An export gas pipeline in the Smolensk Region, west of Moscow, ruptured and caught fire Friday morning, the public relations department of the gas transportation company Lentransgaz told Tass.      Khristenko discusses North European pipeline in Finland  Oct 29 - ITAR - TASS News Wire A special group made up of Russian, German and Finnish specialists will draw up a detailed plan within three or four months, which will outline ways of building a North European gas pipeline, which will go across the territory of Finland, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko said on Monday at a press conference on the results of his talks with Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen.      Storage      AGA'S PLAN TO DISCONTINUE STORAGE REPORT PRODUCES SURPRISINGLY MILD REACTIONS   By Nick Snow in New York, Oct 29, 2001 (Petroleum Finance Week/PBI Media via COMTEX) -- The American Gas Association's decision to discontinue gathering and publishing weekly storage statistics after the end of the year elicits expressions of regret, but not a whole lot else.      General      WILLIAMS DEFIES ENERGY DIVERSIFICATION TREND BY ACQUIRING HARD ASSETS   By Leslie Haines in Houston, Oct 29, 2001 (Petroleum Finance Week/PBI Media via COMTEX) -- Unlike other diversified energy companies that believe in moving away from holding hard assets, Williams Companies Inc. follows the opposite strategy, trying to balance high-margin and low-margin assets and short-term and long-term growth opportunities.      Trading/Marketing      Europe energy firms wary of Enron on credit worries  By Stuart Penson (Reuters) LONDON, Oct 29 (Reuters) Energy companies in Europe are shying away from trading with troubled U.S. energy group Enron amid concerns about the company's credit status, industry sources said on Monday.      U.S. firms say deals with Enron at normal levels  By Andrew Kelly (Reuters) HOUSTON , Oct 29 (Reuters) Major U.S. wholesale natural gas and electricity traders said on Monday their deals with troubled Enron Corp. are still running at normal levels.      Deals/Contracts      Norway enters long-term gas supply deal with Italy   Oct 29, 2001 (NORDIC BUSINESS REPORT via COMTEX) -- Norway has entered an agreement to supply 150 billion cubic metres of natural gas to Italy over the next 24 years.      ...IN THE WAKE OF FEWER, BUT MUCH LARGER, TRANSACTIONS DURING THIRD QUARTER   By Nissa Darbonne in Houston, Oct 29, 2001 (Petroleum Finance Week/PBI Media via COMTEX) -- It was no time for small oil and gas deals, as small-asset sellers shrank from the table in the third quarter while buyers, concerned with commodity prices, offered less for reserves than in the first half of this year.      People      Many in Houston Believe Enron Chairman Can Get Energy Firm Back on Track  By Bruce Nichols, The Dallas Morning News, Oct. 28 Over the last 15 years, Enron Corp. has transformed itself from a sleepy gas pipeline company into an energy trading giant.      Financial      Enron at 1994 lows as credit worries grow  HOUSTON, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Enron Corp.'s shares fell near a seven-year low on Monday, as the limping energy giant said it was lobbying banks for a new credit line and a rating agency chopped Enron's senior unsecured debt to two notches above junk status.      Hit by SEC Probe, Recent Events, Enron Tries for Wall Street Answers  Oct. 29, Houston (Utility Spotlight) Disclosure of a federal inquiry over the activities of Enron's chief financial officer last week brought a near free-fall in its once proud stock value in the latest turn of events in what is becoming a horrendous year for the diversified energy giant. Special Offer from this Publisher!       Enron Corp. Turns Some Credit into Cash to Boost Confidence as Stock Slides  By Tom Fowler, Houston Chronicle, Oct. 29 Enron Corp.'s stock price hit its lowest point in more than five years Friday after it tapped into more than $3 billion in revolving credit in an effort to reassure investors and customers.      Financial - Ratings      Moody's Downgrades Enron's Long-Term Debt Rating  Oct. 30 (NGI's Daily Gas Price Index) Moody's Investor Service on Monday lowered the senior unsecured long-term debt ratings of Enron Corp. from Baa1 to Baa2 "where they will remain for downgrade." Special Offer from this Publisher!       Financial - Results      Mirant's quarterly earnings nearly double  NEW YORK, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Mirant Corp., a top U.S. energy marketer spun off from Southern Co. earlier this year, said on Sunday its third-quarter profits nearly doubled with help from its trading and marketing unit, and added that it could exceed Wall Street estimates in 2002.      DTE Energy net dips on economy, merger impact  DETROIT, Oct 29 (Reuters) DTE Energy Co., an owner of utilities serving Southeastern Michigan, on Monday reported a 20 percent drop in third-quarter earnings, less steep than analysts had expected, as cost cuts and increased sales to higher-margin residential customers partly offset seasonal losses from a recently acquired gas utility.      National Fuel Doubles Profit From Its Operations  Oct 28 - Buffalo News - Financial Edition Rising profits from its pipeline and storage business, coupled with a gain from a change in the value of a type of stock options issued to top executives, helped National Fuel Gas Co. more than double its fourth-quarter profits from its operations.      International      Thailand Panel Establishes New Guidelines for Natural Gas Pricing  Bangkok Post, Thailand, Oct. 29 New guidelines for natural gas pricing and throughput charges have been established by the National Energy Policy Committee.      Energy stifled by lack of reform   By Alan Wood, Oct 29, 2001 (The Courier-Mail - ABIX via COMTEX) -- The Australian Pipeline Industry Association says gas infrastructure development is being hindered by a lack of reform.      INDIA'S SUPREME COURT SETS FURTHER HEARING ON GAS PIPELINE ISSUE   NEW DELHI, Oct 29, 2001 (AsiaPulse via COMTEX) -- On the volatile issue of who should have jurisidiction over the gas pipelines, the federal government or the States, India's President K R Narayanan has sought the opinion of the Supreme Court.      British Gas Undecided on Pacific Outlet   Bolivia, Oct 29, 2001 (BNamericas.com via COMTEX) -- British Gas - sitting on 4.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves in southern Bolivia - is still looking at a range of options to "monetize" the reserves - a corporate communications official told BNamericas.com.      ELECTRICITY COMPANIES CALL ON GOVERNMENT TO SPEED UP PLANS TO SALE 65% STAKE IN ENAGAS  Oct 29, 2001, (El Mundo /FT Information via COMTEX) -- The Spanish economy ministry is due to announce in November the tariffs and charges which will apply for gas transport as a first step prior to Spanish gas group Gas Natural selling 65 per cent of gas distribution company Enagas.      Ute Will Participate in Gas Plant  Oct 29, 2001 - South American Business Information UTE will own up to 33% of the shares in the company which will build a combined cycle thermal generating plant whilst the Government is trying to attract private investors to this project following a presentation which took place in the 28th Global Congress of Energy in Buenos Aires, Argentina.      Thyssengas GMBH Lowers Prices  Oct 28, 2001 - FT World Media Abstracts via Comtex Thyssengas GmbH, the gas importing and trading subsidiary of German energy giant RWE AG, announced yesterday that it had managed to defy the negative trend on Germany's deregulated gas market during the first nine months of 2001, but stressed that it had had to reduce prices substantially.      All fired up for gas-fuel future   By Nigel Wilson, Oct 30, 2001 (The Australian - ABIX via COMTEX) -- The Queensland Government is intent on developing the use of natural gas in the state.        If you are an Energy Central News Subscriber and you have checked any news articles above, selecting the 'Get Articles' button below will deliver all of the checked articles in one page. This is a convenient way to get exactly the news you need - quickly!           NEED INFORMATION ON THE POWER INDUSTRY? ENERGY CENTRAL'S GOT IT!    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