Belt

Expect additional staff reductions, office closures andregulated rate changes in the near future at TransCanada PipeLines,Gary Mihaichuk, president of transmission, said in an interviewwith NGI this week.

The Rocky Mountain Oil &amp Gas Association (RMOGA) has fallenprey to low commodity prices and industry belt-tightening justshort of its 80th anniversary. The trade group plans to shut itsdoors permanently June 1.

Low commodity prices and industry belt-tightening picked off theRocky Mountain Oil & Gas Association (RMOGA). The trade groupsaid it will shut its doors June 1. The move comes amidreorganization of the American Petroleum Institute (API) andfollows talk last year of combining the Natural Gas SupplyAssociation with API. Clearly, the pressure is on to cut costs, andtrade association dues paying has become less of a priority.

ARCO said it will implement a cost reduction program designed toreduce before-tax costs by more than $500 million over the next twoyears. Approximately $350 million of the cost savings are expectedin 1999. The cost reductions will fall largely into fourcategories: upstream operating and support costs; explorationspending; downstream operating and support costs; and costs for thecorporate center and support services. ARCO’s increasedconcentration on core exploration and production areas and therecent divesting of non-strategic assets have facilitated theadditional cost reductions.