OGE Energy Corp.’s Enogex subsidiary completed the sale of Enogex Arkansas Pipeline Co. (EAPC) to Atlas Pipeline Partners for $173 million subject to adjustments. EAPC was the wholly owned subsidiary of Enogex that held a 75% stake in the NOARK pipeline system. The transaction was first announced in September. Atlas now holds all the interests of EAPC. Enogex will use $32 million of the proceeds to repay debt associated with NOARK. The balance is expected to be used to pay down short term debt and to purchase strategic assets to diversify Enogex’s asset base, OGE said. The transaction is expected to provide an after-tax gain of slightly more than $50 million for Enogex. NOARK owns the 565-mile Ozark Gas Transmission (OGT) system, which extends from southeastern Oklahoma through Arkansas to southeastern Missouri. It also includes a 365-mile intrastate gas-gathering system known as Ozark Gas Gathering, located in eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas. OGT has throughput capacity of 322,000 Dth/d and currently transports 202,200 Dth/d. The gathering system has about 400 receipt points and currently gathers about 36 MMcf/d. Atlas said the purchase will be immediately accretive to distributable cash flow.

DTE Energy’s board added the title of COO to company President Gerard Anderson. In his new role Anderson will oversee all of the company’s gas and electric operations and most of DTE Energy’s non-utility businesses. Stephen Ewing, formerly group president of the company’s DTE Energy Gas unit has been named vice chairman of DTE Energy. Ewing will continue to have responsibility for developing new opportunities in the gas business as well as assuming greater responsibility for the company’s external business relationships. Robert Buckler has been named president and COO of DTE Energy’s largest operating unit, Detroit Edison. He has served as group president of energy distribution since 2001. Buckler will oversee the electric utility’s operations.

Scana Corp. subsidiary PSNC Energy received approval from the North Carolina Utilities Commission for an 11% increase in the purchased gas component of the company’s retail natural gas rates, effective for November bills. The increase will raise the company’s total year-round residential rate from $1.56 per therm to $1.74 per therm, which translates into a monthly increase of $18 based on an average natural gas usage of 100 therms per month during the winter heating season. “We are extremely concerned about our customers as we head into the winter heating season,” said PSNC Energy COO Jerry Richardson. “I cannot stress enough how important it is for folks to take steps to make their homes more energy efficient, to conserve on their usage and to call us sooner rather than later about payment issues.” PSNC noted that the hurricanes this year disrupted offshore gas supply, 54% of which remains offline. Offshore supply shut-ins have led to sharply higher gas prices over the last few months. PSNC distributes gas to 407,000 customers in North Carolina.

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