Boost

To extend what it sees as dominance in Canada’s natural gasmarket and to boost its production by 10%, PanCanadian PetroleumLtd. last week agreed to purchase Montana Power Co. for $475million. The properties will extend PanCanadian’s existing shallowgas properties in southern Alberta into northern Montana, adding 94MMcf/d and 3,800 barrels of crude oil and natural gas liquids.

To extend what it sees as dominance in Canada’s natural gasmarket and to boost its production by 10%, PanCanadian PetroleumLtd. yesterday agreed to purchase Montana Power Co. for $475million. The properties will extend PanCanadian’s existing shallowgas properties in southern Alberta into northern Montana, adding 94MMcf/d and 3,800 barrels of crude oil and natural gas liquids.

Continued heat problems in the West had Rockies and SouthernCalifornia border prices rising Wednesday, while the rest of themarket leveled off with mostly flat numbers. A bullish storagereport had sources predicting across-the-board upticks for today.

The Fourth of July may have been last Tuesday, but pyrotechnicscontinued for the rest of the week in the natural gas pit astraders pushed prices lower Wednesday in sympathy with a 6% drop incrude oil prices, only to retrace a portion of those losses in ashort-covering buying spree Friday.

The Department of Energy (DOE) announced last week it will funda Billings, MT, company’s proposal to further refine and test acoal-based filtering product that could remove the impurities inthe water produced by stripper gas wells, thereby greatly reducingwaste-water disposal costs for producers and royalty owners. In theend, the DOE believes the product has the potential tosignificantly prolong the life of the thousands of stripper gaswells in the United States.

The Department of Energy (DOE) announced it will fund aBillings, MT, company’s proposal to further refine and test acoal-based filtering product that could remove the impurities inthe water produced by stripper gas wells, thereby greatly reducingwaste-water disposal costs for producers and royalty owners. In theend, the DOE believes the product has the potential tosignificantly prolong the life of the thousands of stripper gaswells in the United States.

The cash market was very much a mixed bag Monday, with largerebounds in the West arrayed against small price movements up anddown (but more down than up) in the East. However, because thegreat majority of the screen’s dazzling display of strengthoccurred following the close of cash business, sources found reasonto expect a bullish market in physical gas today even without muchweather-related support.

In what state officials say would be a boon to the oil and gasindustry in Oklahoma, oil and gas drillers are expected to add totheir tax exemptions for certain types of activities underlegislation now awaiting Gov. Frank Keating’s signature. As ofFriday afternoon, Keating had taken no action on the bill, but hehas until June 10 to sign or veto it.

In what state officials say would be a boon to the oil and gasindustry in Oklahoma, oil and gas drillers are expected to add totheir tax exemptions for certain types of activities underlegislation now awaiting Gov. Frank Keating’s signature.