Bought

BG Group plc, which bought 80% of the import capacity at the Lake Charles, LA, liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal last year and has an LNG import terminal in Canvey Island, England, bolstered its LNG supply with two large long-term contracts that could bring to U.S. markets a total of 5.9 million tonnes of LNG per year (274.2 Bcf/year).

BG Group plc, which bought 80% of the import capacity at the Lake Charles, LA, liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal last year and has an LNG import terminal in Canvey Island, England, bolstered its LNG supply with two large long-term contracts that could bring to U.S. markets a total of 5.9 million tonnes of LNG per year (274.2 Bcf/year).

Calgary-based Nexen Inc. said it bought the remaining 40% interest in the Gulf of Mexico’s deepwater Aspen field and remaining interests in five exploration blocks in the greater Aspen area from BP Exploration and Production for US$136 million.

Calgary-based Nexen Inc. said it bought the remaining 40% interest in the Gulf of Mexico’s deepwater Aspen field and interests in five exploration blocks in the greater Aspen area from BP Exploration and Production for US$136 million. The purchase is part of Nexen’s strategy to expand its deepwater Gulf operations.

El Paso Corp. bought full-page ads in the Washington Post and The New York Times Tuesday to blast last week’s decision by FERC Chief Administrative Law Judge Curtis Wagner that El Paso Natural Gas pipeline exercised market power to drive up gas prices in California from November 2000 to March 2001. The ads include a letter to Congress by CEO Williams Wise, who says the ALJ ruling, particularly his conclusion that the El Paso pipeline should have operated at or near maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) during the relevant period, will negatively impact pipeline safety and supply reliability across the nation.

NiSource is making some of the last remaining organizational changes since it bought Columbia Energy Group two years ago, announcing actions last week to reduce the size of its management structure. Under the plan, the streamlining will move executive management closer to customers and promote efficiency while lowering costs in response.

Exploration partners Anadarko Petroleum and Phillips Alaska bought up the most tracts in the Bureau of Land Management’s second lease sale since the United States resumed leasing in the Alaska National Petroleum Reserve (NPR-A) three years ago. The two companies, which have been most active in the reserve, are expected to be awarded 34 tracts with winning bids of $9.6 million. The entire lease sale generated winning bids totaling $63.8 million for 60 tracts covering 579,269 acres.

El Paso said it is finally nearing completion of the All American oil pipeline conversion and its integration into the southern pipeline system. All American was bought by El Paso from Plains All American Pipeline LP in February 2000 (see Daily GPI, Feb. 4, 2000 ). The pipe segment extends 1,088 miles from McCamey, TX, to Emidio, CA, and will boost system flexibility by adding 230 MMcf/d of capacity this year on the southern system from the Permian Basin in West Texas to markets in Arizona and California.

While American gas producers have bought into less picked-over pastures than their home United States with their Canadian acquisitions, they have joined a community that faces an increasingly uphill scramble to maintain its productivity. A signal that western Canada has turned a corner, from frontier prospecting days to mature exploitation of familiar territory, surfaced in evidence submitted to the National Energy Board by TransCanada PipeLines Ltd. to support its “fair-return” application for a financial overhaul and increased shipping tolls.