Brian

Canadian Prime Minister Brian Harper and Nova Scotia Premier Rodney MacDonald ended a political feud last week after reaching an agreement to share offshore oil and natural gas revenue.

Canadian Prime Minister Brian Harper and Nova Scotia Premier Rodney MacDonald reached an agreement Wednesday on offshore revenue sharing that ends a long political feud of “he said, he said.”

While coalbed methane (CBM) has proven to be a valuable resource, Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer and his government have had their hands full with CBM developers in Canada and Wyoming, whose projects could affect the water quality of some of Montana’s major rivers in addition to the state’s wildlife.

While coalbed methane (CBM) has proven to be a valuable resource, Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer and his government have had their hands full with CBM developers in Canada and Wyoming, whose projects could affect the water quality of some of Montana’s major rivers in addition to the state’s wildlife.

While the written order for the five-zip rejection last month by state regulators of an Australian investment firm’s bid for NorthWestern Energy has yet to be issued, Gov. Brian Schweitzer left no doubt as to its message, commenting to local reporters: “This is an order that says pack your bags and get on your kangaroo and ride out of here because you’re not going to be in Montana.”

Canada’s Minster of Finance Brian Flaherty put politics aside on Tuesday, holding firm to a plan to begin taxing the distributable cash of income trusts in four years. The minister, who at times sparred with members of Parliament during hour-long testimony, also soundly rejected calls to exclude oil and natural gas income trusts from the proposal.

BP Canada Energy Co. has appointed Brian E. Frank to the position of president and CEO, marking the first time a Canadian has been appointed to those positions within the company. He succeeds Dennis Roemmich, who is retiring. BP said that during his 20 years of energy industry experience, including the past eight years with BP Canada and its predecessor company Amoco Canada, Frank led the formation of Canada’s foremost natural gas and power marketing and trading entity.

Brian Watt, CEO of Columbia Energy Services (CES), predicted ashakeout of retail energy providers over the next five years on thescale of what happened in the telecommunications industry, wheremarket participants dwindled from 400 to less than 10.

Cuba Wadlington Jr. has officially assumed the role of presidentand CEO of Williams’ gas pipeline unit. Wadlington succeeded BrianO’Neill, who announced last summer his intention to retireeffective Jan. 1. Wadlington, 56, previously served as executivevice president of Williams’ gas pipeline unit and senior vicepresident and general manager of Williams Gas Pipeline-Transco.