Although

Although dwarfed by the news of the proposed NiSource-Columbiamarriage, LG&E Energy Corp. had some glad tidings of its ownlast week — it signed off on a definitive merger agreement forBritain’s PowerGen plc to acquire the Louisville, KY-baseddiversified energy company in a cash-and-debt transaction valued at$5.4 billion.

Although the rate of service interruptions to industrial andcommercial gas customers on its system during January was thehighest in five years, a Public Service Electric and Gas Co.(PSE&G) official told New Jersey regulators yesterday theimpact of the interruptions on the usage and price of home-heatingoil was “negligible.”

Although dwarfed by the news of the proposed NiSource-Columbiamarriage, LG&E Energy Corp. had some glad tidings of its ownyesterday — it signed off on a definitive merger agreement forBritain’s PowerGen plc to acquire the Louisville, KY-baseddiversified energy company in a cash-and-debt transaction valued at$5.4 billion.

Although yesterday afternoon was filled with bearish weather andfutures market news, an early morning futures screen rally combinedwith large price jumps in the Northeast to lead most points on thesurvey to increases of a few cents to more than a nickel.

Although stating several times the FERC-ordered changes to itsexisting capacity-allocation procedures weren’t “necessary orappropriate,” El Paso Natural Gas has proposed a new allocationscheme that would assign “pathed” and “non-pathed” rights for thedelivery of shippers’ gas to the California market.

Although 1998 saw a 25-year low in world oil prices, capitalexpenditures by major U.S. producers totaled $75.1 billion, thesecond highest level since 1974. Expenditures were up 21% from1997, according to data released by the Energy InformationAdministration (EIA) in “Performance Profiles of Major EnergyProducers 1998.”

Although 1998 saw a 25-year low in world oil prices, capitalexpenditures by major U.S. producers totaled $75.1 billion, thesecond highest level since 1974. Expenditures were up 21% from1997, according to data released by the Energy InformationAdministration (EIA) in “Performance Profiles of Major EnergyProducers 1998.”

Although no gas is flowing from the Sable Offshore EnergyProject to markets in Maritimes Canada and New England, theMaritimes & Northeast Pipeline crossed a significant politicalhurdle yesterday that smoothes the way for eventual service. Itsigned an agreement with the Assembly of the Nova Scotia Mi’kmaqChiefs covering a wide variety of environmental and socio-economicmatters. Financial details of the agreement were not released, butthe Indians had been demanding about $98 million, according todocuments filed with the National Energy Board. Pipeline officialsdid say they have agreed to contribute funds for a number ofpipeline monitoring and educational activities. They also haveagreed to give the Indians 5% of the project work done in theprovince.

Although FERC staff shot down the Atlantic Alliance projecttwice as an alternative to both Independence and Millennium, it didnot deter project planners from moving forward with an open season.