TENNECO &lt;TGT> TO TRANSPORT GAS ON OPEN ACCESS
  Tenneco Inc said Tennessee Gas Pipeline
  Co, its largest interstate natural gas pipeline, will transport
  natural gas under the open access rules of the Federal Energy
  Regulatory Commission, FERC.
      In open access, gas pipelines serve purely as a transport
  company, moving gas from suppliers to customers. Pipelines also
  transport its own gas to customers.
      Earlier this week, Transco Energy Co &lt;T> rejected the FERC
  guidelines, saying it would not offer open access until the
  regulatory body offers a solution to the exposure it faces for
  gas it has bought but could not sell.
      The exposure faced by the industry stems from take or pay
  contracts, under which pipelines bought gas on long-term
  contracts they could not sell. The problem grew severe as
  customers won cheaper sources of gas because of open access.
      Some industry analysts speculated earlier this week that
  Tenneco might follow Transco's lead and close its pipelines to
  open-access because of the take-or-pay issue.
      But Tenneco today said open access "is one of the steps
  FERC is taking to restructure the gas industry in the U.S. FERC
  is moving the industry through this restructuring now, even
  before all transitional problems are solved."
      A spokesman said Tenneco faces 1.7 billion dlrs in exposure
  under the take-or-pay contracts, but he had no specific figure
  for Tennessee Gas, which runs 2,000 miles of pipelines from
  Louisiana and Texas up to New England.
      "We remain convinced that the most critical transitional
  issue facing the industry--take-or-pay--must be resolved by
  FERC in the near future.
      "A failure to do so could have grave consequences for the
  industry's continued ability to provide its customers with
  reliable natural gas," said Tennessee Gas Transmission Co
  president R.C. Thomas.
  

