Columbia Natural Resources (CNR) kept its whirlwind ofAppalachian Basin activity alive yesterday, by announcing thepurchase of gas fields and related assets in Steuben County, NY,from Pittsburgh, PA-based Meridian Exploration Corp. No financialterms of the deal were disclosed. CNR took control of the assetslast week.

“These assets are strategically located and an attractiveexpansion of Columbia Natural Resources’ holdings in New YorkState,” said W. Henry Harmon, President of CNR. “Over the past fewyears, CNR has aggressively expanded operations in New York, andtoday our company is ranked as the leading natural gas producer inthe Empire State.”

The purchase will complement CNR’s ongoing exploration anddrilling program in the Finger Lakes region of New York State,Columbia said. Altogether, the Meridian transaction involves 51,000acres, 17 Bcfe of reserves, 319 producing wells and an 88-milegathering system. The Finger Lakes project is part of a 230-welldrilling effort, the largest drilling plan in Columbia’s history,CNR said. As a comparison, CNR drilled 188 wells in 1998.

“This year will be the most active, in terms of drilling, CNRhas ever been,” said Larry Malone, a CNR spokesman. “Now, withinthat, our New York operations are very important. We’ve been up [inNew York] for three or four years now, and the activity level hasgone from negligible to our third most important state. In terms ofreserves and potential growth, it could be even higher.” Maloneestimated that CNR’s drilling operations accounted for around 50%of the company’s 1999 budget.

The state of New York is not the company’s northern limit. Itrecently entered into a joint venture with two small Canadianproducers to form Canadian Maritimes (see Daily GPI, Aug. 18). Through this vehicle, Columbiais planning to tap mainly natural gas resources and feed it into theMaritimes & Northeast pipeline, which is expected to be completedfor deliveries this winter.

Yet the Appalachian Basin continues to be CNR’s focus. Last May,the company closed its $28 million acquisition of Wiser Oil’sassets. The purchase added more than 480 production wells, 350miles of gathering lines and 43 Bcfe of reserves in the basin.

As Columbia Energy’s main exploration and production arm, CNR isone of the largest producers in the Northeast. Throughout itsservice territory, it holds 860 Bcf of reserves, 8,000 wells andmore than 5,400 miles of gathering pipeline.

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