Base

While more tightly integrating natural gas pipeline operations for its two California-based utilities, San Diego-based Sempra Energy is prepared to spend at least $200 million upgrading its transmission backbone with a new “vision” of having up to 2 Bcf/d of capacity in the southern half of the state to open up to new supply sources. The utilities are hoping for multi-million-dollar, if not “billion-dollar” savings for customers.

Already North America’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) importer, UK-based BG Group took its natural gas natural gas strategy up a step last week with the $346 million purchase of nearly all of El Paso Corp.’s Canadian oil and gas assets.

Looking to expand both its acreage and proven natural gas and oil reserve base, Oklahoma City, OK-based Chesapeake Energy Corp. has entered into agreements to acquire $510 million of Midcontinent, Permian Basin and onshore Gulf Coast oil and gas assets through recent agreements to acquire privately-owned Concho Resources Inc. for $420 million and two smaller property acquisitions totaling $90 million.

With little fresh information on which to base their decisions, natural gas futures traders played it safe Friday in the abbreviated, pre-holiday-weekend session. Light short-covering in the early afternoon was only thing conspicuous in an otherwise featureless trading session. June finished at $6.119, up 8.4 cents for the session and just a few ticks short of the prior Friday’s $6.122 closing price.

Further building its Northeast base, Philadelphia-based UGI Corp. Thursday announced that its energy marketing subsidiary, UGI Energy Services, Inc., has agreed to acquire the northeast region gas marketing business of TXU Energy. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Further building its Northeast base, Philadelphia-based UGI Corp. Thursday announced that its energy marketing subsidiary, UGI Energy Services, Inc., has agreed to acquire the northeast region gas marketing business of TXU Energy. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Fourth quarter and full-year 2002 financial results for the small-cap exploration and production companies will benefit from strong oil and gas prices, but with few exceptions, most of last year’s volume growth came from acquisitions, according to a new report by Lehman Brothers analysts.

Fourth quarter and full-year 2002 financial results for the small-cap exploration and production companies will benefit from strong oil and gas prices, but with few exceptions, most of last year’s volume growth came from acquisitions, according to a new report by Lehman Brothers analysts.

After building itself a growing customer base, it looks like the U.S. natural gas industry may not be able to service it all if the economy picks up this year. If the gas-directed rig count ramps up to 1000 by the end of the year — averaging about 900 rigs through 2003 — then supply available in the U.S. will only be down about 2 Bcf/d from 2002 levels, EOG Chairman Mark Papa estimates. He believes drilling will pick up, but if active rigs don’t hit that level “then production is going to fall harder.”