Billion

With a new major entity in the state’s energy mix — a $5 billion power authority — California’s lineup of pending natural gas and electricity reports is growing, and two existing ones are getting more fine-tuning at the state’s energy commission. After the five-member California Energy Commission postponed adopting reports on electricity/natural gas “trends” and the state’s gas transmission/storage infrastructure, revised versions of those studies may be delayed until Sept. 19, according to energy commission sources.

PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd. will spin off from Canadian Pacific Ltd. (CP) by Oct. 1, leaving PanCanadian with a market value of C$11.7 billion and a place on the top five list of North American exploration and production companies, CFO Wesley Twiss said last week. With the breakup, PanCanadian will have a new name — PanCanadian Energy — and seats on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges. In return, CP will distribute its 85% interest to shareholders at a ratio of 0.684 per share for each CP share.

PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd. will spin off from Canadian Pacific Ltd. (CP) by Oct. 1, leaving PanCanadian with a market value of C$11.7 billion and a place on the top five list of North American exploration and production companies, CFO Wesley Twiss said this week. With the breakup, PanCanadian will have a new name — PanCanadian Energy — and seats on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges. In return, CP will distribute its 85% interest to shareholders at a ratio of 0.684 per share for each CP share.

In the next five years, Mexican oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) needs to spend up to $33 billion on exploration and production activities or its crude and natural gas production could decline by as much as one third, forcing the country to become more of an importer than an exporter, according to the company’s director. Mexico currently is the seventh largest oil producer in the world, and is one of the top three exporters to the United States.

Before leaving for recess earlier this month, the Senate voted out a $60 billion transportation spending bill that calls for record funding for pipeline safety and inspection programs.

Before leaving for recess last week, the Senate voted out a $60 billion transportation spending bill that calls for record funding for pipeline safety and inspection programs.

The Senate is expected to approve a $60 billion transportation spending bill this week that calls for record funding for pipeline safety and inspection programs.

FPL Group Inc. announced that Lewis Hay III has been elected president, CEO and a director of the $7 billion electricity-related services company. He succeeds James L. Broadhead, who will remain as chairman through the end of the year. Since March 2000, Hay had been serving as president of FPL Energy, the company’s independent power production company and its fastest growing business. He joined FPL Group in August 1999 as CFO. Hay will continue to serve as president of FPL Energy until a replacement is named, the company said.

Kerr-McGee has received antitrust approval for its $1.3 billion acquisition of natural gas producer HS Resources Inc., based in San Francisco. The Oklahoma City independent said it had been granted early termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, and when completed, Kerr-McGee would join the top five list of leading oil and gas independents, and would up its gas reserves 77%. Kerr-McGee announced in mid-May that it would acquire gas-rich HS Resources for $66 per share (see NGI, May 21). The deal will consist of a 70% cash payment and 30% of Kerr-McGee Stock. Kerr-McGee also will assume about $450 million of HS Resources’ debt. With its core program in the Rockies, HS Resources holds about 1.3 Tcfe in reserves in the Denver-Julesburg Basin of northeast Colorado. With the acquisition, Kerr-McGee said it expected to increase its daily production of U.S. natural gas by more than 45%.