Agreement

Columbia Energy Group (CEG) announced yesterday a marketingjoint venture with Metromedia Energy, Inc. (MME). The venture,called Columbia Metromedia Energy, is subject to execution of adefinitive agreement and other conditions and is expected to beoperational by the end of the first quarter of 2000. No financialterms were announced.

Sunoco Inc. and FPL Group’s FPL Energy announced an agreementyesterday to build a 725 MW gas-fired combined cycle power plant atSunoco’s refinery in Marcus Hook, PA. The two companies said theyintend to gain all necessary approvals by the third quarter andstart construction in late 2000. While the refinery will consumethe plant’s steam, all the generation will be sold into thePennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland (PJM) market.

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).

Thanks to an agreement announced yesterday with the softwaresolutions company Excelergy, Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas)will expand its energy e-commerce Web site, Energymarketplace.com,to all states that have customer choice programs. The site hadpreviously emphasized the West Coast. While SoCalGas will continueto sponsor the site, Excelergy has assumed development, marketingand sales responsibilities.

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.

California’s major natural gas industry players, some 75parties, will sit down again seeking agreement on a plan forunbundling the Southern California Gas system that has so-farresisted full opening up of intrastate and interstate transmissionand storage for all customers, large and small.

Looking to spread its presence in the Gulf of Mexico, OceanEnergy Inc. (OEI) entered into a drilling agreement with DukeEnergy Hydrocarbons, LLC to jointly develop 13 OEI drillingprospects in the outer continental shelf. The Duke subsidiaryagreed to participate with up to 50% non-operating working interestin the program. The two companies anticipate drilling costs willexceed $40 million for the rest of 1999.

A day after the release of an agreement with the state of NewHampshire last week that settled numerous electric restructuringissues, Northern Utilities announced it was buying back YankeeEnergy for $679 million after a 10-year separation originallyordered by the Securities and Exchange Commission.