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Appalachian gas processing company MarkWest Energy Partners LP (MWE) plans to make a footprint in the Southwest region by purchasing Pinnacle Natural Gas Co. and affiliates from Energy Spectrum Partners LP for about $38 million. The deal gives MarkWest three Texas natural gas pipelines, transporting about 1.1 Bcf/d to several power plants, and 18 gas gathering systems, gathering about 44 MMcf/d. The transaction is expected to close March 28.

Appalachian gas processing company MarkWest Energy Partners LP (MWE) plans to make a footprint in the Southwest region by purchasing Pinnacle Natural Gas Co. and affiliates from Energy Spectrum Partners LP for about $38 million. The deal gives MarkWest three Texas natural gas pipelines, transporting about 1.1 Bcf/d to several power plants, and 18 gas gathering systems, gathering about 44 MMcf/d. The transaction is expected to close March 28.

In reaction to forecasts calling for moderating temperatures and in anticipation of Thursday’s release of fresh storage data, natural gas futures slumped Wednesday amid light long liquidation. And although the March contract finished with a 11.8-cent decline for the session to close at $5.644, it remains in an uptrend on the daily chart. Estimated volume was heavy, with an estimated 101,308 contracts changing hands.

The last seven days are going into the record books, according to reports now coming in from northeastern natural gas and power utilities. Old Man Winter 2003 hit the region with a vengeance, breaking previous years’ winter records for power send-outs in four of the last seven days. Three Mid-Atlantic gas distributors also reported record deliveries on Jan. 23.

Former Shell Co. financial executive Nick J. Caruso, who once worked with Dynegy Inc.’s new CEO, was appointed CFO and executive vice president of the Houston company last week in a move that analysts see as a positive.

Peoples Energy added to its Texas exploration and production assets Tuesday, buying interests in five properties in South Texas and the upper Texas Gulf Coast region from a subsidiary of Magnum Hunter Resources for $33 million.

Peoples Energy added to its Texas exploration and production assets Tuesday, buying interests in five properties in South Texas and the upper Texas Gulf Coast region from a subsidiary of Magnum Hunter Resources for $33 million.

Warren Buffett, the “Omaha Oracle” whose knack for investment risk has turned a mighty profit for believers, added another energy company to his hefty portfolio on Friday, as Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) agreed to loan cash-poor CenterPoint Energy Inc. $1.31 billion. The three-year loan, which carries a 12.75% interest rate, ensures CenterPoint will make a Nov. 15 deadline to pay off a $400 million facility, and more important, allow it to maintain a $4.7 billion credit facility.

Aquila Inc. on Tuesday completed the sale its natural gas storage assets in the United Kingdom to an undisclosed energy trader based there for US$34.9 million, bringing its already announced asset sales that are closed or pending to $911 million total.