Anadarko Petroleum Corp. reported on Tuesday that it has entered into a multiyear agreement with Landmark Graphics Corp., a subsidiary of Haliburton Co., to expand its capability to find, produce and manage oil and gas reserves. The three-year agreement will allow Anadarko access to most of landmark’s exploration and development, drilling and technical engineering software applications. Anadarko’s worldwide offices will also be able to use Landmark for technical support, training and consulting services. “The agreement with Landmark will give Anadarko explorationists and engineers the immediate use of the tools necessary to sustain our increased level of exploration and development activity,” said Morris Helbach, Anadarko’s vice president of information technology services. “The full benefits of the agreement, however, will come with the improvements in workflow and compatibility offered from an integrated set of exploration, engineering and drilling technologies.”

Denver-based Tipperary Corp., an independent energy company, announced that it has entered into an agreement to jointly pursue a coalbed methane exploration project with Koch Exploration Co. in Moffat County, CO. Tipperary said it completed the sale to Koch of a 50% interest in 52,000 acres that Tipperary had recently leased in the region. Koch paid Tipperary approximately $2 million in cash on closing and will spend an additional $2 million for capital costs attributable to Tipperary’s retained interest over the next 18 months, the company said. Tipperary will act as operator of the project. Jeff Obourn, Tipperary senior vice president of operations, stated, “We will begin drilling operations in July, and will evaluate not only coals but other formations that have potential for conventional gas production.” Tipperary said the project represents its second major coalbed methane exploration project in the Rocky Mountains. Tipperary and Barrett Resources are currently joint explorers in the Hanna Basin in Carbon County, WY.

American Electric Power Inc. is putting its money on the strength of Altra Energy Technologies and the IntercontinentalExchange in the business of energy e-commerce. AEP recently acquired $300,000 in series D non-convertible preferred stock of Altra through its AEP Investments Inc. subsidiary, supplementing an equity investment made in 1999. This latest investment does not obligate AEP to any commitments with respect to conducting minimum volumes or generating minimum revenues with respect to Altra’s business. AEP also holds an equity position in IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) and has indicated its intention to utilize the ICE electronic trading platform in connection with its wholesale business-to-business, over-the-counter trading of electricity and natural gas products in North America. ICE is an Internet-based trading platform for over-the-counter energy, metals and other commodities with offices in the U.S. and London. AEP is a multinational energy company based in Columbus, OH. It owns and operates more than 38,000 MW of generating capacity, making it one of America’s largest generators of electricity. The company is also a leading wholesale energy marketer and trader, ranking second in the U.S. in electricity volume. AEP provides retail electricity to more than 7 million customers worldwide and has more than $45 billion in assets.

Patterson Energy, Inc. and UTI Energy Corp. announced on Tuesday that their shareholders have approved a merger of the two companies that creates North America’s second-largest operator of land-based oil and gas drilling rigs. Shortly after the approvals, the merger was completed and the surviving company was renamed Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. Its common shares will be traded on NASDAQ under the symbol “PTEN”, with approximately 76 million common shares outstanding. Under terms of the merger, shareholders of UTI Energy will receive one share of Patterson common stock for each share of UTI common stock. As of the close of the market on Monday, May 7, the companies had a combined market valuation of $2.2 billion. The combined companies, headquartered in Snyder, TX, have 302 land-based drilling rigs, of which 286 are located in the United States and 16 in Western Canada. Patterson-UTI said that Mark S. Siegel, who had served as chairman of UTI, has been appointed chairman of Patterson-UTI. Cloyce A. Talbott, who formerly served as chairman and CEO of Patterson, will serve as CEO. “With more than 300 land-based drilling rigs strategically located in some of the most prolific oil-and gas-producing regions in North America, Patterson-UTI will have the second-largest land-based drilling fleet in North America,” said Talbott. “Moreover, our combined rig fleet, well-matched to the drilling activity in North America, together with the strengths of the combined management teams, provide us with flexibility and capacity to meet the drilling needs of an expanded customer base.”

The New World Power Corp. reported on Tuesday that it has ended discussions to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Block Island Power Co., a regulated Rhode Island utility. The parties mutually agreed to terminate discussions immediately. “Although we are disappointed by our decision to terminate the discussions with Block Island Power Company, we will return our full attention to our current distributed power generation projects and future opportunities within the unregulated sector of the industry,” said President Fred A. Mayer.

Lukens Energy Group Inc. reported that it has recently signed licensing agreements with Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line, Texaco Natural Gas, TXU Energy Trading and Unocal Global Trade for its Storage Valuation Advisor (SVA(TM)) software. Lukens said SVA is part of a suite of analytical products that allow users to value and optimize energy assets in the marketplace. The software allows buyers and sellers of natural gas storage services to estimate the future value of storage based on volatility of futures prices, the company said. Based on real option theory, the software incorporates the latest thinking in financial modeling of energy commodity markets. “The addition of these four energy companies to our list of SVA users demonstrates the technical robustness of our approach,” said Scott R. Smith, senior vice president, Lukens Energy Group. “The growing importance of storage assets in the North American energy infrastructure coupled with the need for proven energy asset valuation models are the driving forces behind companies using our software.” Since Lukens released the SVA software in fall 2000, numerous energy companies including AEC Storage & Hub Services, Aquila Energy, BP Energy, Cinergy Marketing & Trade and Dominion Resources have purchased licenses for the software. Lukens said it is also currently developing other software products including the Park and Loan Optimization Advisor, which is being co-developed with a North American pipeline company, and a short-term optimization model for merchant gas-fired power generation plants.

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