Busy

Duke Energy ended a busy week Friday by putting East Tennessee’s Patriot pipeline extension into service in the Mid Atlantic region and selling its Energy Delivery Services business unit for $22.5 million. Duke also announced a reorganization of its company’s finance and risk management functions on Friday.

While much of the gas industry is busy preparing for a period of low prices and declining demand due to the weakening economy, Duke Energy is showing great confidence in future gas market growth and the potential of Canadian supply basins. The company announced plans last week to buy Westcoast Energy in a cash and stock transaction valued at US$8.5 billion, including $4 billion in debt assumption. The move greatly expands Duke’s North American natural gas pipeline holdings and positions it for a strong role in future gas infrastructure expansions.

While much of the gas industry is busy preparing for a period of low prices and declining demand due to the weakening economy, Duke Energy is showing great confidence in future gas market growth. The company announced plans late Thursday to buy Westcoast Energy in a cash and stock transaction valued at US$8.5 billion, including $4 billion in debt assumption. The move greatly expands Duke’s North American natural gas pipeline holdings and positions it for a strong role in future gas infrastructure expansions.

It was a busy week for Williams which announced it was delaying reporting earnings until mid-November to complete negotiations on asset sales, then was socked with a lawsuit involving the former Barret Resources, one of the prize assets it is not planning to sell. At the end of the week the company announced it has learned that a few traders in its natural gas trading business have provided inaccurate pricing information to an energy industry publication that compiles and reports index prices.

As a baseball strike was averted last Friday, the San Francisco Giants were busy in another New York City venue — federal bankruptcy court — asking the judge in the Enron Corp. Chapter 11 proceedings to force the fallen Houston energy marketing machine to remove its tilted “E” logo from the baseball team’s Pacific Bell Park.

San Diego-based Sempra Energy’s international unit was busy Thursday pushing and pulling in Latin America, trying to make things happen in its aggressive game plan south of the border.

Following a busy annual shareholder meeting last Wednesday, New Jersey Resources Corp. (NJR), parent company of New Jersey Natural Gas Co. (NJNG), reported higher fiscal 2002 first-quarter earnings of $1.10 per share, a 10% increase compared with last year; a three-for-two stock split and a 500,000 share increase in its share repurchase plan. The meeting also marked the 50th anniversary of NJNG.

Following a busy annual shareholder meeting Wednesday, New Jersey Resources Corp. (NJR), parent company of New Jersey Natural Gas Co. (NJNG), reported higher fiscal 2002 first-quarter earnings of $1.10 per share, a 10% increase compared with last year; a three-for-two stock split and a 500,000 share increase in its share repurchase plan. The meeting also marked the 50th anniversary of NJNG.

Houston-based Apache Corp. had a busy Wednesday as the company announced that it has discovered natural gas at Eugene Island Block 187 in the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 45 miles offshore Louisiana. The company also reported that it has completed a “strong development well” from its South Timbalier 295 platform. Apache said both wells are in production.