Acknowledging its significant improvement in company performanceand shareholder value in the past year, Equitable Resourcespromoted Murry S. Gerber to chairman of the board of directors lastweek. Gerber has served as president and CEO since joiningEquitable in 1998.

Company officials cited Gerber’s success in promoting hisphilosophy of cost-structure improvements, core business growth anddevelopment, and strategic acquisitions that helped Equitabledeliver a 60% total return to its shareholders in the past year.The 1999 full-year earnings per share rose 196% over 1998, to $2.01per share, and first quarter 2000 earnings rose 40% to $1.19 pershare over the same quarter in 1999.

“Thanks to Murry’s leadership and strong management team,Equitable has developed a foundation for additional growth andimprovement,” said James Rohr, president and CEO of PNC Bank and anEquitable board member. “Murry’s appointment as chairman reflectshis accomplishments over the past year.”

Detailing the company’s success in the past several months readslike a business school lesson in how to succeed. Just months ago, thecompany announced that it had completed the acquisition of theAppalachian production assets of Statoil Energy Inc. for $630 million(see NGI, Jan. 10). Statoil’s productionassets consisted of nearly 1.2 Tcf of proven gas reserves and 6,500natural gas wells in West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, Pennsylvaniaand Ohio, and more than doubled Equitable’s natural gas reserves inthe northeast U.S. energy market. The acquisition also made Equitablethe leading natural gas producer in the Appalachian basin. The companyannounced yesterday it is moving its Alexandria, VA productionheadquarters, including 25 professional personnel to the corporateoffices in Pittsburgh.

In March, Equitable announced it had completed combining its Gulfof Mexico assets with Westport Oil and Gas Co. (see NGI, March 20). In that transaction, Equitablereceived nearly $50 million in cash and a minority interest in thecombined company.

Westport, based in Denver, has oil and gas production in theRockies, mid-continent and Gulf Coast. With the combination,Equitable officials said they would be able to focus on their corebusiness of natural gas distribution and Appalachian production.

Equitable Resource’s marketing and trading arm is EquitableEnergy, which serves non-regulated customers. It purchases andsells natural gas, crude oil and natural gas liquids inPennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky as wellas the Gulf Coast. It also performs price risk managementactivities for its customers using energy futures, options andswaps.

Equitable officials searched for a year before naming Gerberpresident and CEO of the company in May 1998 (see NGI, May 11, 1998). Gerber had been Coral EnergyCEO, having moved over from a position with Shell Oil.

Carolyn Davis, Houston

©Copyright 2000 Intelligence Press, Inc. All rightsreserved. The preceding news report may not be republished orredistributed in whole or in part without prior written consent ofIntelligence Press, Inc.