President Bush announced his intention to nominate Kathleen Burton Clarke to be director of the Bureau of Land Management at the Department of Interior. She has served as the executive director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources since 1998, and she was deputy director from 1993 to 1998. Clarke served in the office of Rep. James V. Hansen from 1987 to 1993, first as director of constituent services and then as executive director. A Utah native, she is a graduate of Utah State University.

In order to help its Missouri customers deal with outstanding natural gas bills as a result of last winter’s price spikes, Laclede Gas Co. said it is offering a special Catch-Up Program to customers who are facing disconnection of their natural gas service due to non-payment. Laclede mailed 36,000 letters to customers offering a simple program that will allow customers to avoid losing their gas service as well as the additional cost and inconvenience of having to have it reconnected later. Under the program, Laclede calculates each customer’s total annual gas bill for the coming year, divides that into 12 equal monthly amounts, and adds one-twelfth of the customer’s total outstanding balance. The company said customers will maintain their gas service and, within 12 months, their accounts will be completely caught up. “We recognize the unusual burden placed upon all our customers by last winter’s cold weather and record wholesale gas costs,” said Laclede spokesman Richard N. Hargraves. “We sincerely hope this new program will help these customers meet the needs of their families in these difficult times, and we urge them to act now to participate.”

Cocoa, FL-based Cambridge Energy Corp., an exploration and production company with producing properties in Louisiana and Indonesia, announced that its revenues for the year ended March 31 were $2,976,931, an increase of 177%, as compared with revenues of $1,693,003 for the prior year. However, the company recorded a net loss for the year of $1,842,617, or $0.10 per basic and diluted share, vs. a net loss of $533,306, or $0.04 per basic and diluted share recorded for the prior year. The company said revenue growth was driven by increased international production coupled with higher average selling prices for oil. The net loss increased due to the company electing to take several one-time charges for investment banking fees, consulting fees and prepaid drilling costs that amounted to $1,070,000. Adjusting for these one-time charges, the company would have incurred a net loss of $772,617. “I am pleased with our progress towards executing our business plan,” said Perry West, CEO of Cambridge Energy. “We had another tremendous increase in revenues compared to last year. Additionally, we continue to move towards our goal of having a sustainable profit level.”

Geo Petroleum Chairman Dennis Timpe said on Tuesday that Geo has received a letter of intent to negotiate a joint venture agreement between Geo Petroleum and Rothchild Oil & Gas Inc., an independent oil and gas producer. Robert Robinson, chairman of Rothchild, said that a joint venture agreement to drill and rework natural gas properties and leases in Texas and Louisiana would significantly benefit both companies. The executives said they expect to work on finalizing negotiations between the parties next week.

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