Midland, TX-based Legacy Reserves LP, which focuses its exploration and production in the Permian Basin and in the Midcontinent, has ended discussions with Apollo Management VII LP to take the company private. The Legacy board of directors’ conflicts committee said it was unable to reach an agreement with Apollo and that it would be in the best interests of its unitholders to remain a publicly held partnership. To improve its liquidity position and mitigate the risk of falling commodity prices, Legacy, which was formed in 1993, also has entered into new oil and natural gas commodity swaps.

Massachusetts utility NSTAR Gas has proposed a new gas rate of 24 cents/therm, down 37% from the current summer price of 38 cents/therm and a roughly 80% reduction from last summer’s rate of $1.30/therm. If approved by the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, the price cut will save the average NSTAR customer $5.45 a month beginning July 1. NSTAR is the largest Massachusetts-based, investor-owned electric and gas utility. The company transmits and delivers electricity and gas to 1.4 million customers in eastern and central Massachusetts.

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