The fifth sale of blocks in the Western Gulf of Mexico has beenset for Aug. 23 in New Orleans by the U.S. Department of Interior’sMinerals Management Service (MMS). The Final Notice of Sale,published in yesterday’s Federal Register, covers 3,789 availableblocks encompassing about 20.61 million acres in the Western Gulf’sOuter Continental Shelf Planning Area offshore Texas, and in deeperwaters offshore Louisiana. Blocks are located from nine to 200miles offshore in water depths ranging from eight meters to morethan 3,000 meters. The MMS said this is the first Western Gulf saleto require the use of electronic funds transfer procedures for1/5th bonus bids. Current OCS lessees and operators may securepayment using a single bid form; others may be required to securethe EFT payment another way. The Sale Notice Package is availableon the MMS Internet site atwww.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/lsesale/lsesale.html, or from the Gulf ofMexico Region Public Information Unit, 1201 Elmwood Park Blvd., NewOrleans, LA 70123-2394. You can also call 504-736-2519 or800-200-GULF.

TransCanada PipeLines Limited has sold a 49% interest in theTuscarora Gas Transmission Co. to TC PipeLines, LP for $28 million.TransCanada will retain a 1% interest in Tuscarora through itssubsidiary, TCPL Tuscarora Ltd. Sierra Pacific Resources owns theother 50% of the transmission company. The Tuscarora travels 229miles from Malin, OR, to Reno, NV, carrying approximately 111MMcf/dand a total volume of 23.8 Bcf last year. TransCanada, which own a33.4% interest in TC Pipelines, LP, said that they were happy to beable to monetize the value of its investment, while still retaininga strategic position in the company. The selling of the interestsgoes with TransCanada’s prior statement that it will sell offnon-core assets in order to free up capital to pay off debt.

With money-losing Texas gas properties and energy servicecontracts off the books, PG&E Corp. Thursday reported a 38%increase in second quarter earnings, compared to the same periodlast year, $253 million, or 69 cents/share (vs. 1999 second quarterfigures of $182 million and 50 cents/share). Its reorganizedNational Energy Group contributed $37 million, or 10 cents/share,in earnings. CEO Robert Glynn, Jr., characterized the results as”strong performance across the board,” noting that both thecombination electric-gas utility business and the other energyrelated businesses “are delivering sustainable contributions toshareholder value. “We are on track to exceed, the third yearrunning, our target to increase earnings from operations by 8 to10% annually.”

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