Assault

After an assault on its prized Wisconsin markets earlier thismonth by a formidable new rival pipeline project proposed by Wicor,Viking Gas and CMS Energy, ANR Pipeline came out shooting last weekwith a pledge to continue its annual expansions into the state. TheCoastal Corp. subsidiary said its “10-Cent Solution” program, whichhas yielded two expansion projects in the last eighteen months willcontinue to be the best option for gas shippers in the region. Thisyear’s open season started last week and will continue throughApril 30 for new firm transportation service starting Nov. 1, 2001.

Marking the start of a five-year, $400 million Gulf of Mexico(GOM) exploration and production (E&ampP) assault, Conoco announcedthe exchange of interest in several deep-water blocks with Exxonand the debut of the Deepwater Pathfinder, a drillship capable ofreaching 10,000-foot depths. In the exchange, Conoco acquired 50%of 29 Exxon-owned blocks and Exxon acquired 50% of 30 Conoco-ownedblocks. The undeveloped acreage is in Green Canyon, Garden Banks,Walker Ridge and Keathley Canyon. Terms of the transaction were notdisclosed. With this addition, Conoco holds interest in 295 blocksin the GOM, amounting to 1.2 million net acres.

The May Nymex contract continued its assault into higherterritory last week, as the spot month made its first ever tripabove the $2.70 mark. In fact, May set its new all-time high of$2.725 Thursday morning before strong profit taking ahead of thelong holiday weekend drove May down to a Friday settle of $2.567,up an overall 10.1 cents for the week.