Calgary

Richmond, VA-based Dominion Energy Inc. is completing its purchaseof gas producer Remington Energy Ltd., of Calgary, AB in a deal valuedat nearly US$300 million that will give Dominion a stake in AlliancePipeline. Still to be completed is its $6.3 billion deal to buyConsolidated Natural Gas (CNG) which was originally announced inFebruary just days before the Remington buyout was revealed (See Daily GPI, Feb. 25, 1999).

A study released Monday by Energy ERA, a Calgary-based energyconsulting firm, estimated that two scenarios involving differentpipeline expansions – one involving Vector and Millennium andanother involving Independence and MarketLink-from the Midwest intothe Northeast will have the same spot price impact. Both wouldcause an average $0.30/MMBtu price decline in New York Citygateprices over the next five years.

Calling his own merchant underground natural gas storage fieldin northern California a “done deal,” a Calgary-based AlbertaEnergy official speculated that any competitors in developingnonutility, market-based storage “have quite a bit of work to do”to get a competing facility up and running. It was an indirectreference to a smaller, competing facility whose backers say theywill file with California regulators Oct. 1. (See Daily GPI, Sept.21)

Westcoast Energy announced it has agreed to sell its Albertanatural gas distribution business, Centra Gas Alberta, based inLeduc, BC, to AltaGas Services of Calgary for $61 million. Thecompany distributes gas to 53,000 residential, rural and smallindustrial customers in 90 communities in central Alberta.

Dominion Resources unit Dominion Energy has agreed to pay (US)$128 million, C$7.60/share, to acquire Archer Resources Ltd. ofCalgary, AB. The deal gives Dominion Energy control of Archer’sdaily production of approximately 72 MMcf/d of gas and 1,500 b/dof oil in Alberta, plus Archer’s 16 processing facilities and over500,000 undeveloped acres. Dominion Energy said the deal, ifconsummated as expected, would increase its gas productioncapability by approximately 50%.