Shareholders of New Century Energies and Northern States PowerCo. approved the merger of the two companies yesterday. The newcompany will be named Xcel Energy Inc. At separate specialshareholder meetings held today in Denver and Minneapolis, morethan 83% of the voting shares of both NCE and NSP voted in favor ofthe merger. “This transaction will be accretive immediately, willprovide a balanced platform for growth, and will provide NCE andNSP customers with continued low-cost, reliable energy,” said NCEPresident Wayne Brunetti, who will become CEO of Xcel Energy. NCEsaid 93% of its shareholders representing 78% of its overall sharesapproved the deal, and 83% of NSP’s shareholders representing 62%of its shares okayed the transaction. The merger, announced onMarch 25, still requires state and federal regulatory approval. Theapproval process is expected to be completed in nine to 15 months.Under terms of the merger agreement, holders of NCE stock willreceive 1.55 shares of stock in Xcel Energy for each of their NCEshares. Each share of NSP stock will become one share of XcelEnergy.

Coastal announced that it is increasing its 1999 capital budgetfor exploration and production to $880 million from $590 million.”The $290 million increase for Coastal Oil & Gas Corporation isa direct result of recent strength in natural gas prices,” saidChairman David A. Arledge. About $190 million of the increase isearmarked for acquisitions and $100 million is for additionaldrilling and well workover programs. “Coastal is minimizing risk inincreasing its reserve base and production rates throughacquisitions,” Arledge said. “In the meantime, drilling costs haveremained at very reasonable levels. This increase in capitalexpenditures demonstrates Coastal’s ability to respond quickly tomarket changes.”

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