Closed

AGL Resources Inc. has closed on its $533 million acquisition ofVirginia Natural Gas, more than two months ahead of schedule andprior to the start of the winter heating season.

Keeping with the company’s self-imposed completion date, Houston-based Apache closed the deal on its previously announced $385 million acquisition of an Occidental Petroleum subsidiary (see NGI, Aug. 7).

Keeping with the company’s self-imposed completion date,Houston-based Apache closed the deal on its previously announced $385million acquisition of an Occidental Petroleum subsidiary (see DailyGPI, Aug. 3). The subsidiary which ownsinterests on the Outer Continental shelf of the Gulf of Mexico will befinanced under a two-part agreement. Part of the cost will be paid upfront, and the remaining cost will be paid for in futureyears. Included in the sale, are properties in 32 fields, half of themoperated, on 93 blocks with total proved reserves of 56.8 millionbarrels of oil equivalent. Net production of the properties throughyearend are expected to yield an average of 107 MMcf/d and 7,800 bblof oil a day. The proved reserves have an estimated six year reservelife.

Anadarko and Union Pacific Resources (UPR) closed their $5.7billion merger transaction on Friday successfully. Shareholders ofboth companies gave the thumbs-up on the deal on July 13, and bythe end of business on Friday each UPR share received 0.455 sharesof Anadarko common stock.

Oneok Inc. closed on the acquisition of a wide range ofMidcontinent gas assets from Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI) lastWednesday after FERC ruled that the operations included in the salewere exempt from the terms of a recent consent agreement, whichimposed a number of restrictions on KMI companies for affiliateviolations [IN00-1]. This transaction, together with Oneok’spurchase of midstream assets from Dynegy Inc. last month, makes thecompany one of the biggest players in the Midcontinent gas market.

Oneok Inc. closed its $307.7 million acquisition of Dynegy’smidstream assets yesterday, and now is focusing on its other majorMidcontinent deal with Kinder Morgan.

Southern Natural Gas closed a major deal with its customers lastweek that will give them a $44 million rate cut in exchange forlong-term contracts that lock up the majority of Sonat’s firmtransportation and storage capacity through 2005. The rate cutamounts to an overall 4.5%-5% reduction in systemwide demandcharges.

Enron North America has closed on the purchase of ColumbiaEnergy Services, the remainder of Columbia Energy Group’swholesale marketing and trading division, for $38.3 million.

The cash market closed out last week on a somewhat balancednote, with new upticks of a nickel or more in the Northeast arrayedagainst drops between a nickel and a dime at western points. Inbetween there was a vast sea of mostly flatness.