Bolster

Looking to bolster its core natural gas reserve base in the Southwest, Comstock Resources Inc. announced Wednesday that it has agreed to purchase substantially all of the assets of Ovation Energy, LP. for $62.5 million.

Even with a conservative Henry Hub gas price forecast of $5/MMBtu in 2004 and $3.50 over the long term and an oil price forecast of $30/bbl in 2004 and $21/bbl for beyond 2005, the credit rating picture and overall fundamentals for the exploration and production sector should continue to improve unless certain thorny issues, such as reserve revisions, get in the way of some companies, Standard and Poor’s (S&P) said in a new report.

An industry group chaired by leaders of the Committee of Chief Risk Officers (CCRO) last Tuesday set up a task force to improve voluntary industry reporting of natural gas price information to publications that publish price indexes, and to establish better communications with FERC to ward off mandatory price reporting threatened by the Commission.

An industry group chaired by leaders of the Committee of Chief Risk Officers Tuesday set up a task force to improve voluntary industry reporting of natural gas price information to publications that publish price indexes, and to establish better communications with FERC to ward off mandatory price reporting threatened by the Commission.

Talisman Energy Inc. said last week that it purchased all the shares of Vista Midstream Solutions Ltd. for C$130 million (US$94 million), giving it important gathering and processing assets in a core area adjacent to its Deep Basin play in northwestern Alberta. Talisman said the other assets included in the purchase are being resold.

Vista’s assets are located in three operating areas: Cutbank in northwestern Alberta near Talisman’s Deep Basin play, Retlaw/Enchant/Turin located in southeastern Alberta and Freefight in southwestern Saskatchewan. The Cutbank complex is Vista’s major asset, representing two-thirds of its revenue and value. Talisman has entered into a firm agreement for the sale of the assets at Retlaw/Enchant/Turin for $30.5 million and is in negotiations for the sale of the Freefight assets.

Continuing ongoing efforts to bolster its balance sheet, Reliant Resources Inc. on Wednesday disclosed that it has entered into a definitive agreement for the sale of its 588 MW Desert Basin plant in Arizona to the Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District (SRP) for $288.5 million.

Implementing a safe harbor provision assuring that those who report prices to published price surveys will not be prosecuted for honest mistakes would be best achieved through a policy statement, industry representatives told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last Wednesday at a workshop.

In a new report comparing five of the top diversified energy companies in the United States with investment-grade credit ratings, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Service (S&P) found that while the differences were many, all share qualities worth noting, and all contrast “sharply” with several peers that saw their ratings dive in the past year.