Assets

Peoples Energy added to its Texas exploration and production assets Tuesday, buying interests in five properties in South Texas and the upper Texas Gulf Coast region from a subsidiary of Magnum Hunter Resources for $33 million.

Abraxas Petroleum Corp. said Tuesday that its Canadian units, Canadian Abraxas Petroleum Ltd. and Grey Wolf Exploration Inc., have agreed to sell certain reserves and associated gas processing plants in Western Canada to a Canadian royalty trust for approximately $138 million.

Through mergers and acquisitions, most of the top 10 oil and gas companies have made concerted efforts to achieve higher returns and greater cost efficiency, and they now hold the financial ability to strengthen their portfolios even more, according to a study by PIRA Energy Group, a New York-based energy consulting firm.

Through mergers and acquisitions, most of the top 10 oil and gas companies have made concerted efforts to achieve higher returns and greater cost efficiency, and they now hold the financial ability to strengthen their portfolios even more, according to a study by PIRA Energy Group, a New York-based energy consulting firm.

As part of the company’s ongoing strategy to unload non-core assets and focus on key businesses, Williams said Wednesday that it has signed a definitive agreement with Knoxville, TN-based Pilot Travel Centers LLC. to sell its retail travel center operations for $190 million cash, including fuel inventory, merchandise and supplies.

Dynegy Inc. disclosed late in the day Friday that it had dismissed six employees and will discipline seven others in its natural gas trading business for violations of company policies. The violations are related to previously disclosed findings by the company that some employees in the marketing and trading unit provided inaccurate information on natural gas trades to various energy publications that compile and report index prices.

IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) said that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of CommodityLogic, a collection of back office software and hardware, from Enron Net Works LLC, an affiliate of the bankrupt Enron Corp. ICE said the purchase and sale agreement has been filed with the bankruptcy court and is subject to final bankruptcy court approval following a standard notice period. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Piedmont Natural Gas has signed an agreement to buy the assets of North Carolina Gas, a gas distribution division of NUI Corp., for $26 million in cash. North Carolina Gas serves 14,000 customers in Rockingham and Stokes counties, which are contiguous to Piedmont’s service territory. Charlotte-based Piedmont is the second largest utility in the Southeast with gas service to 710,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. This purchase follows Piedmont’s deal in 2001 to buy a gas distribution system serving the Gaffney area in Cherokee County, SC, from Atmos Energy. Also in 2001, the company began service to new territory in Avery, Mitchell and Yancey counties in North Carolina. Completion of the North Carolina Gas acquisition is contingent upon approval from several regulatory bodies, including the North Carolina Utilities Commission. Closing of the purchase is expected this year.

Gas storage is a strategic asset for any energy portfolio, more critical than it has ever been, as the volatile power market becomes one of the gas industry’ fastest growing customer bases, a panel of natural gas, power and pipeline executives said Wednesday. Speaking at Ziff Energy Group’s North American Gas Storage Conference in Houston, panelists said that despite the current economic downturn and low commodity prices, natural gas storage has become a critical component for all facets of the energy delivery business.