The two federal judges in Houston and New York City who are overseeing Enron Corp.‘s massive bankruptcy case ordered mediation last week in an attempt to clear some of litigation confronting the courts. In a joint hearing, Houston federal District Judge Melinda Harmon, who is handling shareholder lawsuits, and Manhattan federal Bankruptcy Judge Arthur J. Gonzalez, who is handling the overall Enron bankruptcy, ordered several parties to attempt settlements through a mediator. District Judge Kevin Duffy, located in Manhattan, agreed to serve as mediator, and Harmon and Gonzalez said in their joint order that the mediation results would be nonbinding, unless the parties otherwise agree. A spokesman for the University of California, the lead plaintiff in the shareholders’ lawsuit, said the university welcomed the courts’ action “to help speed restitution to those victimized in the Enron fraud.” Trey Davis added, “We will fight for our fair share during the mediation process and believe we are in a strong position to prevail on behalf of the shareholders.”

Dominion announced last Thursday that it closed on a $1.45 billion revolving credit facility with JP Morgan that features a unique pricing mechanism, called relative value pricing, which adjusts interest payments based on reference to bond market pricing. Dominion and JP Morgan said they expect the new financing method to “win widespread popularity…attract more lenders to the market and serve as a model” for unsecured short-term credit for investment grade energy companies. “This innovative technique will help transform the syndicated loan market because it further provides a relative value link between the syndicated loan market and other capital markets,” said G. Scott Hetzer, Dominion senior vice president and treasurer. According to Dominion, it is the first time that widely distributed, syndicated loan facilities for investment grade companies have linked the level of bank interest payments to bond market credit spreads. This new facility will backstop Dominion’s commercial paper programs. Dominion would only draw on the facility in the event that the commercial paper market becomes unavailable to the company. The $1.25 billion senior unsecured revolving 364-day credit facility for Dominion and the $200 million three-year senior unsecured revolving facility for Dominion Virginia Power will link interest payments under the facilities to the then current yield on the companies’ pre-selected bonds, bounded by a range determined by the applicable ratings, the company explained.

Canadian-based Cypress Hills Resource Corp. and its partners have entered into a farm-in and option agreement with a private Alberta company to re-enter and deepen an existing well in the Lone Pine Creek area of Alberta. The exploration farm-in covers seven sections of land and will target a seismically defined Swan Hills reef complex, with reserves reported to be in excess of 10 MMboe per section in some fields. The parties plan to begin drilling operations as soon as all regulatory approvals are received. The total cost of the project to drill, complete and equip a successful well will be approximately C$750,000, and Cypress Hills will be participating for a 20% working interest in the project. In conjunction with this project, Ted Fostey of Calgary has been appointed president and has been appointed to the board of directors. Cypress Hills also announced that with the farm-in, it expects to soon complete two private placement financings to raise up to C$350,000, which were announced earlier this year.

Baker Hughes Inc. acquired Cornerstone Pipeline Inspection Group (CPIG), which will operate as part of the Baker Hughes Pipeline Management Group (PMG), a unit of Baker Petrolite. CPIG provides in-line inspection services to assess the integrity of pipelines. Its “smart pig” inspection solutions include high-resolution magnetic flux leakage instruments. CPIG systems can traverse pipelines with severe bends and restrictions that could not have been inspected using previous pig technology. CPIG provides inspection services worldwide. Baker Hughes PMG offers a full range of products and services to help pipeline operators increase delivery, assure system integrity, and improve reliability of upstream, transmission and distribution lines. PMG offers pipeline flow boosters, internal corrosion direct assessment services, in-line and tethered inspection services, and turnkey pipeline cleaning services. “Smart-pig inspection is a key addition to the Baker Hughes capabilities to serve the growing market for pipeline integrity services,” said Rod Clark, president of Baker Petrolite. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The Minerals Management Service (MMS) has awarded four research contracts to Oceanweather Inc., ABS Consulting, Global Maritime, and Onshore Risk and Technology to assess the impact of damage as a result of Hurricane Lili. In September 2002, Hurricane Lili, a full category four storm, moved through the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GOM) with extreme winds and large waves exceeding or matching the design criteria of the oil and gas facilities in her path. Of the 4 offshore oil and gas facilities in federal waters of the GOM, approximately 200 were in the path of Hurricane Lili. To ensure the integrity of existing facilities, MMS has all offshore oil and gas facilities that were subjected to hurricane force conditions be inspected for structural damage, including possible damage below the water line. The MMS also has embarked on the first phase of a five-year transformation to streamline business operations by Fiscal Year 2008. The MMS OCS Connect project will reform the way the agency operates by moving to on-line services in an effort to stay better connected with their customers: industry, citizens, and other government agencies. MMS has engaged a team led by Booz|Allen|Hamilton as the prime contractor to assist the Offshore program in re-engineering its core business processes while developing an enterprise architecture that is “robust and secure” and designed to replace the antiquated legacy systems currently in place.

Lafayette, LA-based PetroQuest Energy Inc. said Tuesday that the exploratory well at its Murphy Castle Prospect has been drilled to its objectives, logged and determined not to be productive. PetroQuest is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development, acquisition and production of oil and natural gas reserves in the Gulf Coast Basin, both onshore and in shallow waters offshore.

Canadian 88 Energy Corp. said its shareholders have approved a special resolution to change the company’s name to Esprit Exploration Ltd. The Corporation began operation under that name at its new office location at Suite 900, 606-4th Street SW on Monday. The company’s website is now www.eee.ca. Esprit said it will continue to trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading symbol “EEE”.

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