A new natural gas marketing company, formed by five leading oil and natural gas income trusts in Canada, debuted this week and hopes to fill some of the void left by the fast exits of the big marketers in the United States and Canada.

Calgary, Alberta-based Energy Trust Marketing Ltd. opened its doors earlier this week, but it doesn’t expect to start flowing gas until Aug. 1, said company President Brian Soutiere. The new company plans to initially market gas to the U.S. Midwest and Northeast markets, as well as Eastern Canada, and eventually may look at markets in California and the Pacific Northwest, he noted.

“The timing is excellent to enter the market,” Soutiere told NGI. “So many other players have vacated the business,” which resulted in “limited liquidity,” and producers now are seeking other options to sell their gas, he said. The marketing company plans to “find markets and bring them back to producers” in Canada’s Western Sedimentary Basin.

Energy Trust Marketing will be different from the Enron-type marketers because buyers will always know who they are contracting with, he said. The transactions will be transparent.

The company will be owned jointly by Enerplus Resource Fund, PrimeWest Energy Trust, Shiningbank Energy Ltd., ARC Energy Trust and Provident Energy Ltd. The five oil and gas trusts are limited partnerships that flow all of their earnings back to unitholders on a tax-free basis, according to Soutiere. The trusts primarily are dominated by mid-size producers.

Producers in the five trusts produce a total of 750 MMcf/d of gas, he estimated. “We will market some of the gas of the [Trust] producers,” but the marketing company will deal with other producers as well.

Energy Trust Market presently has offices in Calgary and in Alberta, with a total of 10 staff members. It plans to open a third office in the Chicago area within a year, Soutiere said.

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