Acknowledging its significant improvement in company performanceand shareholder value in the past year, Equitable Resources haspromoted Murry S. Gerber to chairman of the board of directors.Gerber has served as president and CEO since joining Equitable in1998.

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 Daily GPI, Jan. 5). Statoil’sproduction assets consisted of nearly 1.2 Tcf of proven gas reservesand 6,500 natural gas wells in West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia,Pennsylvania and Ohio, and more than doubled Equitable’s natural gasreserves in the northeast U.S. energy market. The acquisition alsomade Equitable the leading natural gas producer in the Appalachianbasin. The company announced yesterday it is moving its Alexandria, VAproduction headquarters, including 25 professional personnel to thecorporate offices in Pittsburgh.

In March, Equitable announced it had completed combining its Gulfof Mexico assets with Westport Oil and Gas Co. (see Daily GPI, March 13). 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 Daily GPI, May 5, 1998). Gerber had been Coral EnergyCEO, having moved over from a position with Shell Oil.

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