Asset

The Oil & Gas Asset Clearinghouse, which conducts live floorand Internet bidding on oil and gas properties and prospects, soldmore than $34.4 million of properties at its ninth hybrid auctionheld Dec. 13. The Clearinghouse’s Selective Offering auctioned 321lots that consisted of more than 1,200 wells.

The Oil & Gas Asset Clearinghouse sold more than $18.1million of properties as of its Oct. 25th Hybrid auction, whichfeatured simultaneous floor and Internet bidding in Midland, TX.Based in Houston, the company is a wholly owned subsidiary ofPetroleum Place, an Internet portal and marketplace serving theupstream energy industry. The Clearinghouse said it offered 128lots, consisting of more than 800 wells, including 46 higher valuedproperties. Year-to-date, Internet bidders have purchased more than$25 million properties through Selective Offerings, andparticipation on the Internet also is increasing, said the company.

Houston-based Pogo Producing Co. added to its natural gas assetbase last week, announcing it will acquire cross-town rival NoricCorp. for $750 million in cash and debt, upping its reserve base by63% and increasing its projected annual 2000 production by 35% —with most of the new assets in natural gas fields in Texas,Louisiana and the Rocky Mountains. Noric is the parent corporationof North Central Oil Corp.

After putting its 50% interest of the Express System crude oil pipeline on the market last December as part of CEO Doug Baldwin’s $3 billion divestiture program, TransCanada PipeLines Ltd. (TCPL) finally found a buyer in Alberta Energy Company Ltd. (AEC) for a net total of $60 million. Included in the sale is TransCanada’s 50% interest in Marquest marketing entities which act as shippers on the system.

Phillips Petroleum Co. completed its acquisition of ARCO’s Alaskanbusinesses and gained Federal Trade Commission approval of the deal,which became effective retroactive to Jan. 1. The deal was announcedin March (see Daily GPI, March 17).

The Oil & Gas Asset Clearinghouse will hold anotherlive/Internet energy property auction later this month.

The Oil & Gas Asset Clearinghouse will hold anotherlive/Internet energy property auction later this month.

Duke Energy of Houston is growing its Canadian presence througha gas marketing and asset optimization deal with Calgary-basedCanadian 88 Energy Corp. Duke is making a strategic investment inthe producer and will have an alliance to market gas production andoptimize gathering lines and about a dozen processing plants.Initially, Duke will be marketing about 100 MMcf/d of Canadian 88production.

Putting the finishing touches on a controversial asset sell-offplan, MCN Energy Group Inc. announced last week the sale of itsAppalachian natural gas exploration and production (E&P) andrelated pipeline properties for a total of about $180 million.