Fort Peck Indians File $3 Million Suit Against Northern Border Pipeline
PR Newswire, 08/01/01
USA: Scramble for Caribs tankers forces rates skywards.
Reuters English News Service, 08/01/01

GERMANY: Frankfurt power bourse admits three new members.
Reuters English News Service, 08/01/01

US West Daily Power Prices Flat Despite System Hiccups
Dow Jones Energy Service, 08/01/01
US Exim set to move SC on Dabhol row
The Times of India, 08/01/01


Fort Peck Indians File $3 Million Suit Against Northern Border Pipeline

08/01/2001
PR Newswire
(Copyright (c) 2001, PR Newswire)

Outcome Could Have National Implications 
POPLAR, Mont., Aug. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- In a move that could have significant national implications, the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribal Nation has filed suit in the Fort Peck Tribal Court against Northern Border Pipeline Company, a unit of Northern Border Partners, L.P. (NYSE: NBP), to collect more than $3 million in back taxes.
Northern Border, a partnership of Enron (NYSE: ENE), Williams Energy Partners (NYSE: WEG) and TransCanada Pipelines (NYSE: TRP), owns and operates a natural gas pipeline and compression station on the 2.3 million-acre Ft. Peck Reservation in northeast Montana. The 1,214-mile large diameter natural gas line, which has 15 compressor, stations stretches from the vast Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin near Monchy, Saskatchewan to Manhattan, Ill. It has a delivery capacity of 2.3 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d). Northern Border's gross investment in 1999 was listed at $2.4 billion. 
Tribal Chairman Arlyn Headdress said Northern Border officials "negotiated with us for two years" before the Tribes gave permission to begin construction to cross their land in 1980. 
"From the pipeline completion until recently, Northern Border honored all of its obligations. In fact, the lease has been fully paid, but the company has refused to honor its tax obligations for the past two years," Headdress said. "We have tried repeatedly to negotiate a resolution of all issues, but have failed." 
Headdress said he is "baffled" by the pipeline company's refusal to work out a settlement of the tribal taxes. 
"We have had a great relationship since 1980. In fact, Northern Border contracted us to help build the pipeline and compressor stations that are on and just off of the reservation. Yet now, they refuse to deal reasonably. Northern Border's lease to use our tribal homelands expires in 2011, and its payment of tribal taxes is the major value the Tribes receive from the Company. If these taxes are not paid, the Tribes would have little reason to renew the lease when it expires." 
Headdress said the tax that Northern Border is refusing to pay represents approximately 25 percent of the Tribes' total annual revenue. The value of the tax until the lease ends is approximately $13.8 million. 
The Northern Border suit is the second court action taken by the Tribes to collect back taxes. Currently before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is a suit against Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. (NYSE: BNI) which operates 80 miles of railway on the reservation. The suit seeks to collect approximately $1.2 million in taxes a year. 
Tribal attorney Reid Peyton Chambers of the Washington, D.C. law firm Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse, Endreson & Perry, said the outcome of these suits could establish a precedent for commercial operations on reservations across the country. 
"For the past 30 years, Congress and the executive branch have encouraged tribes to govern their own reservations and become economically self- sufficient," Chambers said. "An important part of that process involves the right of the tribes to assess reasonable taxes on non-Indian businesses operating within the boundaries of their reservations. Yet, today we are seeing court rulings that some companies interpret as setting aside these rights. Clearly, much more decisive and definitive action is needed if the tribes are to meet the goal of self-sufficiency desired by Congress and the President." 
Under current law, tribes are allowed to collect taxes on non-Indian businesses if any of four conditions exist. 
"If there is a consensual relationship with contracts and agreements over time, if a company's activities threaten public safety and welfare, if the enterprise's activity is on trust land, or if Congress has authorized the tax, the tribes are legally entitled to assess and collect taxes," Chambers said. "For both Northern Border and Burlington Northern Santa Fe, these conditions exist." 
Headdress said the suit was filed in Tribal Court because the courts have held that issues concerning Native Americans that occur on tribal land should first be heard in Tribal Court. 
The Ft. Peck Assiniboine Sioux Tribal Nation consists of two related Indian tribes that have existed before Columbus came to America. The tribes settled on the Ft. Peck Reservation in the early 1870's and today have approximately 11,000 members. The reservation has a two-year college, health care center and industrial park along with cattle and buffalo ranching operations. Only a small part of their revenues come from gaming operations because of their isolated location. CONTACT: Peggy Striegel 
Public Relations Representative 
Ft. Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribal Nation 
Phone: 1-800-663-1136 
E-mail: ps@striegela.com 
MAKE YOUR OPINION COUNT - Click Here 
http://tbutton.prnewswire.com/prn/11690X84217276


/CONTACT: Peggy Striegel, Public Relations Representative for Ft. Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribal Nation, +1-800-663-1136, or ps@striegela.com/ 11:21 EDT 
Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	

USA: Scramble for Caribs tankers forces rates skywards.

08/01/2001
Reuters English News Service
(C) Reuters Limited 2001.

LONDON, Aug 1 (Reuters) - The cost of transporting crude from Mexico and Venezuela to the U.S. is spiralling rapidly skywards as cargo owners scramble to lock in tankers from a fast-dwindling fleet, brokers said on Wednesday. 
"You won't find a ship available now until August 12, so the ship owners are getting very bullish on rates," said one U.S. broker. He pegged the upcoast trade on Aframaxes (70,000 tonners) at W165 ($1.17 per barrel), but other brokers said W170-180 was likely today.
This represents a rise of at least 29 cents per barrel in the course of a week. 
"People are fixing further and further out, say two to three weeks, just to secure tonnage," said a broker. 
"If you're in the chartering department of an oil major it's embarrassing to pay too much, but its even more embarrassing to be caught without a ship for your cargo," he added. 
The market has gained as much as 10 points a day since last Wednesday when it stood at W125 ($0.88 per barrel), brokers said. 
Oslo brokers reported on Wednesday morning that Enron had paid W165 for the 70,000 tonner Nordgulf, loading in the Caribbean in the first week of August. Valero paid W167 for the Aegean Pride, loading August 13 in Mexico. 
There has so far been little knock-on effect on the smaller Panamax ships (50,000 tonners), which have laboured around W130 since demand slackened off during the U.S. Independence day holidays. 
Clean tanker trades are also moving upwards, with brokers pegging the 30,000 tonne upcoast trade at "W265 and rising" ($10.34 per tonne).

Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	


GERMANY: Frankfurt power bourse admits three new members.

08/01/2001
Reuters English News Service
(C) Reuters Limited 2001.

FRANKFURT, August 1 (Reuters) - Frankfurt-based European Energy Exchange (EEX) said on Wednesday three new participants had joined the bourse. 
"The Dutch company Nuon Energie and the Swiss-based company TXU Europe Energy Trading have been admitted to trade on the spot market," EEX said in a statement.
"Enron Europe Xchange Trading have been admitted to the futures market," it added. 
The new additions bring the total number of participants trading on EEX's integrated spot and futures market to 57 from seven countries. 
A total of 10 banks provide clearing services for EEX.

Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	

US West Daily Power Prices Flat Despite System Hiccups

08/01/2001
Dow Jones Energy Service
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Prescheduled power prices in the western U.S. were mostly unchanged Wednesday despite unplanned outages of several major units and a weather forecast calling for higher temperatures Thursday, traders said. 
Two generating units at Colstrip generating station with a combined capacity of 1,008 megawatts tripped off line about 90 minutes before day-ahead trading began Wednesday, but the units returned to the grid as trading was finishing. 
The 408-MW Craig unit 3 and 170-MW Four Corners unit 2 both tripped off the grid late Tuesday. The Four Corners unit returned to the grid late Tuesday morning and the Craig unit is expected back in service Wednesday afternoon.
The 1,250-MW Columbia nuclear generator in Washington State entered start-up overnight, but Bonneville Power Administration, which markets power from the unit, was seen buying balance-of-the-week supplies. One trader said this might mean a slow ramp-up for the nuclear unit. Enron was also buying spot supplies, staying in front of Bonneville, traders said. 
On the demand side, traders are skeptical of the day-ahead forecast calling for warmer weather and higher air-conditioning demand. As one put it: "Every morning for the past two weeks, we come in and have to lower the temperatures from what we put in the day before." 
Even if the forecast does pan out Thursday, it would raise air-conditioning loads only to the normal level for this time of year. As a result, day-ahead traders are waiting to see a price impact in the real-time market before they are willing to bid up the day-ahead market much. 
On-Peak/MWh One Day Earlier 
Palo Verde, AZ $50.00-$62.00 $49.00-$60.00 
South Path 15, CA 47.00- 51.50 46.50- 54.00 
North Path 15, CA 49.00- 50.50 47.00- 53.00 
Mid-Columbia, WA 53.00- 58.00 53.00- 56.00 

Looking ahead, weather forecasts call for higher temperatures Friday. As a result, air-conditioning load in the Western System Coordinating Council is expected to rise to 112% of normal for this time of year Friday from 103% of normal Thursday, according to forecaster Weather Derivatives Inc. 
-By Mark Golden, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-4604; mark.golden@dowjones.com

Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	

US Exim set to move SC on Dabhol row
Sanjay Dutta

08/01/2001
The Times of India
Copyright (C) 2001 The Times of India; Source: World Reporter (TM)

NEW DELHI: The US Export-Import (Exim) Bank is set to move the Supreme Court in a day or two, challenging the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission's (MERC) eligibility to adjudicate on the tariff row between the Enron-promoted Dabhol Power Company and the Maharashtra State Electricity Board. 
The move, being seen as indirect US pressure to expedite resolution of the issue, is likely to bolster the special leave petition (SLP) filed by DPC and applications by its international lenders for the Supreme Court's intervention.
US Exim, which is a lender, is likely to base its application on the premise that since the power purchase agreement between DPC and MSEB clearly stipulates international arbitration in case of any dispute, MERC has no role to play in its resolution. 
It may also cite Section 52 of the PPA that makes it clear the `conferral' of jurisdiction under Section 22 (1)(C) and (D) and Section 22 (2)(N) ``would override the provisions of all other substantive as well as procedural laws of India, including the provisions of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996''. 
It is also likely to take the stand that for a stable and predictable business environment, it is essential that arbitration agreements are upheld and any party should not be allowed to frustrate this through ``collateral proceedings''. 
Eleven international lenders on Friday had urged the court to hear DPC's petition against a Bombay High Court order referring the dispute to MERC. The international lenders have a Rs 2,088 crore ($444 million) exposure, based on a conversion rate of Rs 47 to a dollar, in the Rs 12,000 crore ($3 billion) power project. 
With their application, the international lenders have made it clear that they are running out of patience. They have said in their application that the Supreme Court should intervene to end the uncertainty over enforceability of arbitration pacts and pave the way for early resolution of the issue. 
Enron, DPC's main promoter, has about $700 million exposure, or 65 per cent equity, in the project. It is now looking for an exit over a demand for renegotiating the price for selling power.

Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.