Added

Anadarko Petroleum Corp., one of the producing industry’s heavyhitters, added more pop to its bat on Opening Day yesterday withthe announced purchase of independent producer Union PacificResources (UPR). Anadarko said the purchase will vault the companyinto the top six companies in terms of both North Americanproduction and reserves.

William McCormick, CEO of CMS Energy called for the Michiganlegislature to pave the way for added electric generation and fullcompetition in the state. He presented his comments to a group ofpeople at the Midland Cogeneration Venture (MCV) 10th yearanniversary ceremonies yesterday.

Scana Corp. dusted off its Carolina’s interstate gas pipelineproject yesterday and added a new twist to the concept. It hassigned an agreement with DFI Group Inc., a Raleigh, NC, developer,to evaluate the feasibility of constructing three proposed ethanolproduction facilities in eastern North Carolina that would beserved by the pipeline. The proposed system also might be used todeliver gas to several new gas-fired power plants and could serveas a conduit for fiber optic cable. The proposed projects wereannounced yesterday by North Carolina Governor James Hunt andScana.

Despite Tuesday’s large opening gap and 11.8-cent collapse, theMarch contract found support in the high $2.40s yesterday andmanaged a small 1.5-cent gain to end the regular trading day at$2.530. It hit bottom at $2.465 and reached a high for the day of$2.545. April was down 0.3 cents to $2.541, and nearly all of theremaining months were unchanged from the day prior.

Fueled by a supportive storage report, natural gas futures addedto gains achieved in Wednesday evening’s Access trading session ina sharp opening bell rally yesterday. Taking out resistance atprior highs of $2.62 and $2.66, the March contract advanced 10.3cents to finish at $2.667

Dynegy Inc., which has teamed up with NRG Energy in westernstate power generation projects, has added a new connection,selling NRG a 50% interest in its Rocky Road Power Plant, a 250 MWnatural gas-fired, simple-cycle peaking facility in East Dundee,IL.

Joining a short list of other states, New Jersey opened upentirely to gas supplier choice earlier last week. At a specialmeeting on Jan. 10, the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) approved ofeach of the state’s four main gas utilities’ unbundling plans. Thelegislation calling for this deregulation was enacted lastFebruary.

Joining a short list of other states, New Jersey opened upentirely to gas supplier choice earlier this week. At a specialmeeting on Jan. 10, the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) approved ofeach of the state’s four main gas utilities’ unbundling plans. Thelegislation calling for this deregulation was enacted lastFebruary.

Dynegy Inc., which has teamed up with NRG Energy in westernstate power generation projects, has added a new connection,selling NRG a 50% interest in its Rocky Road Power Plant, a 250 MWnatural gas-fired, simple-cycle peaking facility in East Dundee,IL.