PricewaterhouseCoopers and Landmark Graphics Corp. agreedyesterday to jointly market and implement capital allocation andperformance management software applications for the oil and gasindustry. The agreement will provide the oil and gas industry withautomated tracking services, and the ability to better manageshareholder value and related information. “With the globallandscape of oil and gas companies in continuous change, we areextremely excited about the opportunities our work with LandmarkGraphics will bring to the industry,” said Michael Olszewski,consulting managing partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers NorthAmerican Petroleum Practice. PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Global Energy& Mining Group serves more than 3,000 oil and gas companiesworldwide with problem solving and risk management. Landmark, awholly owned subsidiary of Halliburton Co., supplies integratedE&P technical and economic software and services for the oiland gas industry. Both are headquartered in Houston.

GRI (formerly Gas Research Institute) has asked FERC to approvea $70 million budget to fund its research, development anddemonstration (RD&D) projects in fiscal year 2001. GRI’sapplication proposes that all the FERC-approved funds in 2001 wouldbe used to support its core research activities, which it saidwould entail 26 projects that are being continued from previousyears. It noted that no new research projects will be initiated in2001. As part of its budget request, it asked the Commission toauthorize GRI’s interstate pipeline company members to recover thecosts of its RD&D activities by imposing surcharges of: 1) 9cents per Dth per month on the demand/reservation component of firmservice rates for high-load factor customers; 2) 5.5 cents per Dthper month on the demand/reservation component of firm rates forlow-load factor customers; 3) 0.7 cents per Dth on thecommodity/usage component for firm rates, also to be applied inconjunction with one-part interruptible rates; and 4) 1.1 cents perDth for service applicable to one-part small customer servicerates, and to the commodity/usage component of two-part smallcustomer service rates. In addition to this FERC-mandated funding,GRI said it expects to receive about $26.5 million in co-fundingfrom industry and government sources in 2001.

Southern Energy.’s brand new 300 MW natural gas-fired powerplant began commercial production yesterday. The power plantlocated on 300 acres of land just west of Whitney Texas in BosqueCounty is part of Southern Company Energy Marketing’s portfolio tohelp meet the growing power demand in Texas. The plant is intendedto be a peaking plant that will only be used during the summer whenelectricity demand is at its highest. The new plant operates withinTexas Natural Resource Conservation Commission standards whichlimits it to emitting less than 25 tons a year of particulatematter. It also complies with other TNRCC emission laws.

Wolf Hills Energy, an affiliate of Constellation Power Source,announced that it will construct a $100 million natural gas-firedpower plant on 10 acres of land located near Bristol VA. Theprojected 250 MW plant is intended to operate only during peakenergy demand periods. Constellation Power Source says thatcontingent on a final go-ahead from the Bristol City Council, siteclearing will begin later this month. It believes that the WolfHills Plant will be fully operational by June 2001.

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