Announcing

NiSource Inc. is losing no time in preparing for the expectedNov. 1 completion of its Columbia Energy acquisition, announcingThursday that about 5% or 800 of the employees of the two companieshave been notified their positions will be eliminated Dec. 1.

Enron Energy Services is on track to double its energymanagement agreements this year, announcing yesterday it had signeda 10-year agreement with Prudential Insurance of America. Termscall for Enron to supply or manage the supply of electricity andnatural gas, and provide related energy management services forPrudential’s 21 corporate-owned office buildings in Arizona,Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey andPennsylvania.

Less than one month after announcing the sale of its Cove PointLNG facilities to Williams for $150 million, Columbia already isputting more assets on the block. It has decided to sell ColumbiaPropane Corp. and Columbia Petroleum.

Less than one month after announcing the sale of its Cove PointLNG facilities to Williams for $150 million, Columbia already isputting more assets on the block. It has decided to sell ColumbiaPropane Corp. and Columbia Petroleum.

The New York Mercantile Exchange took two giant steps forward last week, announcing plans to become a for-profit organization and to launch a global electronic exchange for over-the-counter forward trading and clearing of a wide range of standardized physical commodity contracts.

The New York Mercantile Exchange took two giant steps forwardyesterday, announcing plans to become a for-profit organization andto launch a global electronic exchange for over-the-counter forwardtrading and clearing of a wide range of standardized physicalcommodity contracts.

CMS Marketing, Services and Trading (CMS-MST) continued itsliquefied natural gas (LNG) buying binge last week, announcing 10more deliveries from Qatar to the CMS Trunkline LNG facility inLake Charles, LA. The deals bring the number of announced LNGcargoes headed to the Trunkline facility over the next two years to26.

CMS Marketing, Services and Trading (CMS-MST) continued itsliquefied natural gas (LNG) buying binge yesterday by announcing 10more deliveries from Qatar to the CMS Trunkline LNG facility inLake Charles, LA. The deals bring the number of announced LNGcargoes headed to the Trunkline facility over the next two years to26.

PG&E Corp.’s National Energy Group continued its purge ofnon-profitable assets yesterday by announcing plans to sellPG&E Energy Services contracts to Enron Energy ServicesOperations Inc. (EES) for $85 million. The sale is subject to FERCand other regulatory reviews. It is expected to be completed by theclose of the second quarter this year.