Crystal Gas Storage Inc. of Shreveport, LA, is reviewing itsoptions, including the possible sale of the company. Theindependent gas storage company hired Goldman, Sachs & Co. toassist with the strategic review and said no transactions arepending. The company said there would be no more announcementsunless and until a deal comes about or the effort is scrapped.Crystal Gas Storage owns and operates, through wholly ownedsubsidiaries, two storage facilities near Hattiesburg, MS, andholds various interests in gas properties, primarily in Arkansasand Louisiana.

The Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC), an energygroup made up of governors of 30 producing states and chaired byGov. Bill Graves of Kansas, launched a survey to determine how muchoil and gas producers spend to comply with environmentalregulations, the group said last week during the IOGCC’s midyearmeeting. A survey by the Bureau for Social Research at OklahomaState University was mailed to a sampling of producers in thegroup’s member states. It is designed to help states analyze costsand benefits of regulatory compliance. The idea for the surveyemerged from an Oklahoma Corporation Commission study that foundproducers in Osage County, OK, paid an added $1.97 per barrel indirect environmental regulation cost. It also found that 15-20% ofOsage County producers’ revenue was spent on environmentalcompliance. “The primary question raised by this study relates tothe feasibility of imposing expensive regulatory compliance costson both large and small oil producers where the risk to theenvironment is negligible,” the report said. For more information,visit the IOGCC’s Web site at www.igocc.state.ok.us.

©Copyright 1999 Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. Thepreceding news report may not be republished or redistributed, inwhole or in part, in any form, without prior written consent ofIntelligence Press, Inc.