LG&E Energy and PowerGen plc filed a joint application withthe Kentucky Public Service Commission seeking approval of theirdefinitive merger agreement. The company hopes to have the KentuckyPublic Service Commission issue an order by May 15. In a separateaction yesterday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)approved a merger of National Grid Group plc of the United Kingdomwith the New England Electric System of the United States — atransaction very similar to the LG&E Energy-PowerGen agreement.”This filing with the Kentucky Public Service Commission keeps uson schedule to complete the merger within nine to 12 months,” saidLG&E Energy Chairman and CEO Roger W. Hale. “In addition, theSEC’s approval of foreign ownership of a U.S. utility companyclearly helps move our approval process forward. Our transaction isvery similar to the National Grid Group-New England Electric Systemdeal.”

Reliant Energy has broken ground for a 340 MW gas-fired peakingplant in Illinois, the company’s first merchant power-generationproject in the state to receive all required governmentalapprovals. Known as Reliant Energy Shelby County, the plant islocated in Shelby County, near Neoga, in Central Illinois, 180miles south- southwest of Chicago. It will occupy a small portionof an 80.1-acre parcel of land, most of which will still be farmed,in Big Spring Township.

Attempting to ensure that companies comply with statutes andregulations in the Gulf of Mexico, The U.S. Mineral ManagementService (MMS) said last week that it doled out $500,000 dollars incivil penalties for Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) violations lastyear. Penalties ranged from $3,000 for a company’s failure to testgas-detection systems, to a high of $165,000 which was assessed toa company for not equipping a drilling unit with a proper safetydevice. A summary of the penalties was published in the March 9edition of the Public Register. Since 1990, the MMS initiated 297civil penalty cases, assessed 186 civil penalties and collectedmore than $3.5 million in fines.

Nearly two years after embarking on a joint venture (JV) toexplore, drill and produce gas from a plethora of Midcontinentproperties, Gothic Energy and Chesapeake Energy announced recentlythat they have revised the terms of their agreement. Under theterms of the revision, Chesapeake will exchange its ownership of$61 million worth of Gothic securities for a larger role in theventure. By giving up its right to the securities, Chesapeake willgain an extension of the JV for three years. Chesapeake is alsogranted a right of first refusal on any Gothic propertydispositions and will immediately resume operations of 28 wellswhich were drilled and completed by Chesapeake under the JV, butwhich were operated post-completion by Gothic. Chesapeake estimatedthat the amount of proved reserves gained by this revision is 15Bcfe with a book value of $10 million.

MarkWest Hydrocarbon Inc. of Denver said it has acquiredColumbia Gas Transmission Corp.’s Cobb, WV, natural gas liquids(NGL) extraction plant in the center of the Appalachiangas-producing basin. NGLs extracted at Cobb are fractionated atMarkWest’s recently expanded Siloam, KY, plant. On Feb. 1, MarkWestassumed operation of the company-owned Boldman (KY) extractionplant from Columbia. Currently there are about 10,000 wells on thegathering system served by MarkWest facilities with potential forproducers to drill up to another 30,000 to 50,000 infill wells.

Vastar Resources Inc. said an exploratory well testing the Anvilprospect on Mississippi Canyon Block 815 in the Gulf of Mexicodeep-water trend would be plugged and abandoned after findingnon-commercial quantities of hydrocarbons. The well reached 17,998feet. Vastar held 60% working interest, with 30% held by Murphy OilCorp. and 10% by Callon Petroleum Co. Next on Vastar’s deep-waterdrilling schedule are exploratory wells to test the Entradaprospect on Garden Banks Block 782, followed by the Aspen prospecton Green Canyon Block 243.

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