Annual

The Houston Exploration Co., headquartered in Houston, announced new hedges for 2003, committing 40,000 MMBtu/d of the company’s 2003 annual production at a swap price of $3.19/MMBtu. Earlier this month, Houston Exploration announced it had entered into an agreement to purchase South Texas properties from Conoco Inc. for $69 million. The new hedges will ensure the necessary cash flow to fund planned development in these properties in 2003, the company said in a written statement. Houston Exploration expects the transaction to close on Dec. 31, 2001 with an effective date of Jan. 1, 2002. The company’s hedging strategy is part of a corporate risk management program used to achieve more predictable cash flows. For 2002, current hedged volumes total 210,000 MMBtu/d with an average effective floor of $3.40 and an average effective ceiling of $4.66. Hedged volumes represent approximately 72%-77% of Houston Exploration’s 2002 estimated production volumes.

Buffalo-based National Fuel Gas Co. reported for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2001 earnings of $169.5 million, or $2.11 per diluted share, a 33% increase over fiscal 2000 earnings of $127.2 million, or $1.61 per diluted share the previous year. The 2001 results were exclusive of a non-cash write-down of subsidiary Seneca Resources Corp.’s oil and gas assets in the amount of $104 million after tax, or $1.29 per diluted share.

Portland, OR-based Northwest Natural Gas Co. last week activated a $109 million annual retail rate increase, or an average of 20% for customers in Oregon, reflecting the natural gas utility’s reliance on mostly long-term, fixed-price supply contracts costing about $322 million signed early in the year when wholesale prices hovered in the $4 to $5/MMBtu range.

Portland, OR-based Northwest Natural Gas Co. Monday activated a $109 million annual retail rate increase, or an average of 20% for customers in Oregon, reflecting the natural gas utility’s reliance on mostly long-term, fixed-price supply contracts costing about $322 million signed early in the year when wholesale prices hovered in the $4 to $5/MMBtu range.

After all of the ups and downs in the U.S.’s natural gas markets over the past year, industry experts at the 13th Annual LDC Forum in Chicago last week said they still foresee a 30 Tcf market in the future, but they differ on the expected timeframe. The speakers agreed that the nation’s current infrastructure would need to be beefed up to shoulder the load.

After all of the ups and downs in the U.S.’s natural gas markets over the past year, industry experts at the 13th Annual LDC Forum in Chicago Monday said they still foresee a 30 Tcf market in the future, but they differ on the expected timeframe. The speakers agreed that the nation’s current infrastructure would need to be beefed up to shoulder the load.

Unocal Corp. CEO Charles R. Williamson told analysts last Wednesday at Lehman Brothers’ 15th annual CEO Energy Conference in New York City that the company’s worldwide net oil and gas production could average nearly 800,000 boe/d in 2007, a 63% boost from the company’s average production last year.

Unocal Corp. CEO Charles R. Williamson told analysts on Wednesday at Lehman Brothers’ 15th annual CEO Energy Conference in New York City that the company’s worldwide net oil and gas production could average nearly 800,000 boe/d in 2007, a 63% boost from the company’s average production last year.

The annual Central Gulf of Mexico lease sale, considered a leading barometer of the energy industry’s exploration and production efforts, drew a healthy response Wednesday in New Orleans, with the Minerals Management Service receiving bids totaling $505,468,501. The 547 blocks, located off the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, drew bids from 90 companies – a 60% higher response than last year.