Altra Energy Technologies said it set new records for physicallydelivered natural gas and natural gas swaps for the thirdconsecutive month in a row on Aug. 31. On that day, 146 Bcf ofdelivered gas and 135 Bcf of swaps were traded. The previous highwas 132 Bcf for natural gas and 133 Bcf for swaps. David Hanson,Altra’s vice president of gas marketing said greater liquidity andefficiency in the system played a part in increasing transactionintensity.

Tengasco Inc. currently is lining up financing to double thelength of a gathering/distribution line to deliver its Swan Creek(TN) Field production to end users. The company told its annualshareholders meeting Tuesday it expects the final 30 miles of the12-inch Swan Creek natural gas pipeline to be completed in firstquarter 2000. The first 28 miles connect to a local utility. Costof the project is about $6 million. Tengasco expects to close onfinancing within 30 days. The company said it is in an advancedstage of discussion with several potential end users. If successfulTengasco anticipates initial deliveries will be a minimum of 10MMcf/d and growing. The company has successfully completed 17 gasand oil wells. Proven gas reserves are currently estimated at 62.3Bcf and oil reserves stand at 1.5 million barrels. Additionalprobable reserves are 253.8 Bcf. Tengasco has budgeted drilling ofan added 30 wells in the field in the next 12 months.

Illinois’ Chamber of Commerce selected MidAmerican Energy from agroup of 15 national, regional and local energy providers as itsrecommended energy supplier of choice, the chamber said earlierthis week. No financial terms were disclosed. As a result of the10-year agreement, MidAmerican will be the chamber’s exclusivesupplier of gas and power and will offer its energy managementservices to all chamber members. There are 4,500 members of theIllinois Chamber and 80,000 businesses in local Chambers ofCommerce throughout the state. The agreement also forms a jointmarketing venture between MidAmerican and a group of largepower-using companies, called the Chamber Energy Alliance. TheAlliance will offer savings to its businesses through theMidAmerican agreement. Alliance members total an estimated 2,000 MWas initial baseload, the chamber said.

Frontier Energy, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy Utility Ventures,said it is breaking ground on the second section of its new $55million gas distribution system in North Carolina. The companyplans to begin laying pipe in Warren County which is about 100miles east of the other distribution lines being installed innorthwestern North Carolina. So far more than 115 miles oftransmission pipe and 30 miles of distribution has been installedby Frontier out of an expected total of more than 170 miles oftransmission and 730 miles of distribution. Gas started flowing inSurry, Wilkes and Yadkin counties in December. When complete, thesystem is expected to serve seven counties with a population of150,000 (85% residential and 15% commercial and industrial).

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