Canada

Canada’s Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd. has extended thedeadline of its initial offer to purchase all shares of Ranger OilLtd.’s common stock for another two weeks. Petrobank also hasentered a binding deal with Alberta Energy Co. to sell certainnatural gas assets currently held by Ranger for $262 million if thehostile takeover bid succeeds.

Canada’s Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd. extended thedeadline of its initial offer today to purchase all shares ofRanger Oil Ltd.’s common stock. Petrobank also has entered abinding deal with Alberta Energy Company to sell certain naturalgas assets currently held by Ranger for $262 million.

Georgia Strait Crossing Pipeline Ltd. filed a preliminaryenvironmental scoping submission with Canada’s National EnergyBoard to build and operate its planned gas pipeline to VancouverIsland. The company expects to file an application with the NEBthis fall.

The Turbo Genset Co. Ltd.; DTE Energy Technologies, a subsidiaryof DTE Energy Co.; and Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. arepartnering to develop a 333 kW generator set targeted fordistributed generation for small to medium commercial andindustrial customers and micro-grids serving both residential andcommercial development projects.

Courage Energy Inc., an oil and natural gas company withoperations in western Canada, announced yesterday a purchase of aninterest in producing wells and facilities in the Peace River Archarea of northern Alberta for $13.5 million. The seller wasundisclosed and Courage will now operate the property with 55%ownership. The acquisition will immediately add over 3 MMcf/d tothe company’s production. There are additional wells awaitingcompletion, and pipeline tie-in, which will add to these productionvolumes, Courage said. The purchase includes 28,000 acres (16,000acres net) of land and a comprehensive seismic database. Anindependent engineering report, prepared for the Vendor, hasassigned 14.1 Bcf of proved reserves and an additional 6.428 Bcf ofrisked probable reserves for a total 20.5 Bcf of establishedreserves. The scheduled date to close the acquisition is Feb. 28,with an effective date of Dec. 31.

Producer investment in Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB)natural gas is expected to grow from the $8 billion spent in 1998to just under $9 billion by 2001, which should add up to about a 6%hike or 3.1 Bcf/d in production and 3.4 Bcf/d in maximum peak daydeliverability over the 1998 to 2001 period, according to a surveyby the Canadian Energy Research Institute (CERI). The report notes”the WCSB is moving into a period of tighter supply/demandbalances,” in which lower than estimated spending could result insupply shortfalls, while higher spending could create a surplus.The group’s “1999 Canadian Natural Gas Producer Survey &Deliverability Outlook” sees export capacity from the basinpossibly exceeding market demand in the short-term. “For year 2001CERI’s required production estimate equates to an 89% averageannual load factor on ex-basin capacity, notably lower than the95-100% factors experienced since the mid-1990s.”

Most cash prices were flat to a few cents higher Wednesday, butthere was considerable variation among specific market areas. Heavydrafting of the NOVA system led to increases of a dime or more inintra-Alberta quotes and at such related points as Sumas andStanfield. On the other hand, Appalachia/Northeast points werefalling by about a nickel or more after Northeast citygates haddisplayed the greatest price strength earlier in the week.Temperatures remained above freezing for the most part in theNortheast and Midwest, and warmer weather is predicted to startmoving in today.

TriState Pipeline L.L.C. last week asked FERC to place the U.S. portion of its Chicago-to-Canada project on indefinite hold, which only added more fuel to industry speculation that the project’s future is tenuous at best.

After five years as head of one of Canada’s largest energy companies, George Watson submitted his resignation to TransCanada’s board of directors last week citing “personal reasons.” The resignation, which becomes effective July 31, comes just weeks before the company plans to announce a structural shake-up designed to support its strategic direction. No details of the reorganization are being divulged at this time, a company spokesman said.