The Bureau of Land Management released in the Federal Registerlast week its decision on the Continental Divide/Wamsutter IINatural Gas Project, allowing up to 2,130 new gas wells to bedrilled in Sweetwater and Carbon Counties, WY. The BLM basicallyadopted the proposed action outlined in its Final EnvironmentalImpact Statement on the project, which was released in December,but it reduced the total number of proposed gas wells andassociated facilities from 3,000 well locations to 2,130.Associated access roads, pipelines, and other ancillary facilitieswere reduced as well. Allowance of the remaining 870 wells/welllocations and associated facilities will be reconsidered pendingcompletion of a planning review of the Great Divide Resource Area(GDRA) Resource Management Plan (RMP) for the Rawlins Field Office(RFO) area, BLM said.

The Bureau of Land Management announced yesterday that it isextending for 45 days the public comment period on its proposedrule on unitization and other matters relating to oil and gasactivities in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPRA). Thepublic comment period, originally scheduled to end today, will nowclose on Aug. 10. The proposed rule, which the BLM published in theApril 26 Federal Register (see 65 FR 24542) would add to the BLM’sexisting NPRA regulations certain provisions dealing withunitization, suspensions, and subsurface-storage agreements. Underthe proposed rule, companies operating in the NPRA would be able to”unitize” their oil and gas leases. Unitization maximizesproduction while minimizing the environmental impact ofdevelopment. Under a unit agreement, several lessees share in therisks and costs — as well as the potential benefits — of oiland gas exploration and development. Unitization also reducesimpacts from drilling by enabling two or more leases to be inproduction using fewer wells. Comments on the proposed rule can besent to: WOComments@wo.blm.gov.Anyone submitting comments electronically should include “attn:AD13” in the message, along with the sender’s name and address.

AGL Resources Inc. has filed with the Virginia State CorporationCommission and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) forapproval of its pending acquisition of Virginia Natural Gas, a whollyowned subsidiary of Dominion Resources Inc. A joint filing of AGL andDominion was made with the commission seeking approval of thetransaction, and AGL made a separate filing (Form U-1) with SECseeking SEC approval. AGL expects to receive all regulatory approvalsin time to close in the fourth quarter. The pending acquisition, for$500 million in cash, would boost AGL’s base of customers to nearly1.8 million, and make it the second largest natural gas-onlydistributor in the United States. The purchase price includes $22million in working capital. Dominion was required by regulatoryauthorities to sell property as part of the merger with ConsolidatedNatural Gas earlier this year (see Daily GPI, May 9).

Houston’s Ultra Petroleum announced a 241% increase in the valueof its proved reserves to $140.7 million at mid-year, compared with$41.3 million at year-end 1999. The value of the probable reservesalso has increased 196% to $117.2 million, resulting in a PV-10value for proved plus probable reserves of $257.9 million. MichaelD. Watford, CEO, said the hikes followed increased natural gasprices. He also said that the company’s drilling program isprogressing, and he expects that the financial performance of thecompany “will improve dramatically.” The PV-10 calculations wereprepared using a $3.90/MMBTU Henry Hub equivalent gas price, heldconstant. Ultra is an independent natural gas exploration andproduction company focused on the Green River Basin of Wyoming.

Ohio-based First Energy Services announced that Kent StateUniversity will sign a three-year energy services agreement for allof its energy needs. Kent State’s main campus, and seven of itssatellite campuses in the area will use First Energy Services astheir master energy manager to secure electricity and natural gasat a competitive price. In addition to securing a competitive pricein the electric and natural gas markets, the company will alsoprovide facility services, energy conservation audits, renovation,new construction, and energy efficiency analysis of existingbuildings. “By packaging all our energy needs together, we will beable to secure the best price and streamline the process by workingthrough a single source. We expect this agreement to save theuniversity significant utility and facility dollars, and that savesthe students and taxpayers, too,” Dr. David Creamer, vice presidentof Finance and CPA for Kent State.

Weather Services International (WSI) announced an enhancedversion of its weather information system for energy and utilityindustry users yesterday. The customizable system, calledEnergycast 2.2, provides load management, crew deployment andcapacity planning with timely, accurate weather data and forecasts.Available via satellite feed or Web access, Energycast is designedfor use both by managers and front-line operators, with nometeorological experience needed. It includes an array of functionsto support operational decision making, including: real-timeimagery, observations and warnings, forecasts in graphical, textand tabular formats; and historical data. The upgrade provides moretimely radar-image updates, lightning tracking capabilities, andintegrated National Weather Service alerts. Prices range from $195per month for Energycast tabular forecasts to $1,395 per month forthe Energycast complete package. For details contact Janet Knudsen,director of marketing programs at (978) 262-0715 orjknudsen@wsicorp.com

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