Acquire

Only two-years after winning its hard-fought battle to acquire Portland General Electric, Enron Corp. President Jeffrey K. Skilling last week said the company is considering “alternatives” for the electric utility.

Apache Corp. will increase its oil reserves five-fold with a deal to acquire producing properties and other assets in Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan, Canada with proved reserves of 87.5 MMBoe from Shell Canada Limited for $524 million. The deal follows one made earlier this year with Shell for Gulf of Mexico assets that more than doubled Apache’s gas and oil production.

Apache Corp. made a definitive agreement to acquire producingproperties and other assets in Alberta, British Columbia andSaskatchewan, Canada with proved reserves of 87.5 MMBoe from ShellCanada Limited for C$770 million (US$524 million at currentexchange rates).

After wrangling over who would take over whom, France’s largest oilcompany, TotalFina, and Elf Aquitaine agreed to merge in what thecompanies called an “amicable” deal. TotalFina agreed to improve theterms of its initial July 5 hostile offer for Elf that was worth about$43 billion. The move follows a counter-offer made by Elf forTotalFina (see Daily GPI, July 20).

Philadelphia-based Resource America Inc. announced it has signedan agreement to acquire the stock of Viking Resources Corp., aprivately held energy and energy finance company based in NorthCanton, OH, and centered in the Appalachian Basin.

Philadelphia-based Resource America Inc. announced it has signedan agreement to acquire the stock of Viking Resources Corp., aprivately held energy and energy finance company based in NorthCanton, OH, and centered in the Appalachian Basin.

With its deal to acquire Poco Petroleums for $2.5 billion, Burlington Resources could be leading a charge of U.S. E&P companies heading to Canada for relatively cheap gas assets at a time when Canada is expected to play a large role in meeting strong gas demand growth.

DTE Energy, Detroit Edison’s parent company, said last week itis in the market to acquire a natural gas supplier. The company isin exploratory stages right now but hopes to have some kind ofagreement by the end of this year, a DTE official said at thecompany’s annual meeting.

DTE Energy, Detroit Edison’s parent company, said this week itis in the market to acquire a natural gas supplier. The company isin exploratory stages right now but hopes to have some kind ofagreement by the end of this year, a DTE official said at thecompany’s annual meeting.