Commercial

GE Commercial Finance Energy Financial Services and privately held Locin Oil Corp. said Thursday they have acquired 96 Bcf of net proved gas reserves for $147 million from Equitable Production Co. The assets include 1,200 wells in Pennsylvania and Ohio, and more than 220 proven and probable undeveloped drilling locations have been identified.

Equitable Resources announced the closing of a $147 million sale of non-core gas properties to NCL Appalachian Partners, a partnership between Locin Oil Corp. and GE Commercial Finance Energy Financial Services. Equitable sold an estimated 66 Bcf of proved reserves, of which 59 Bcf were developed. Equitable expects that no gain or loss will be recorded and reiterated its 2005 supply sales estimate of 73 Bcf.

Questar Corp. wasn’t too happy about Standard & Poor’s (S&P) decision to downgrade the debt ratings of its regulated subsidiaries, Questar Gas Company and Questar Pipeline, to “A-” and its commercial paper to “A-2.” S&P affirmed the BBB+ long-term rating of Questar Market Resources and assigned a stable outlook for each Questar entity. “Our credit ratings remain strong, and we’ll keep them strong,” said CEO Keith O. Rattie. “No specific event triggered this action. In fact, our credit metrics today are stronger than at any time in the company’s history, so we don’t expect this action to have a material impact on our borrowing costs or access to credit markets.” S&P said that Questar’s growing exploration and production (E&P) business benefits Questar Gas and Questar Pipeline when commodity prices are high, but exposes them to greater risk when prices are low. “S&P also cited a negative shift in Utah’s regulatory environment as a factor in its decision to downgrade the credit ratings of Questar Gas. But more importantly, S&P affirmed a BBB+ rating for Market Resources, our E&P business and Questar’s primary growth driver,” Rattie added.

FirstEnergy Corp. sold its retail gas marketing business, FirstEnergy Solutions, to Amerada Hess Corp. on Friday. FirstEnergy Solutions supplied gas to 1,900 commercial and industrial customers in selected areas within Ohio, Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Terms of the deal weren’t released. Akron, OH-based FirstEnergy holds seven electric utility operating companies with 4.4 million customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

NiSource Inc. subsidiary Columbia Gas Transmission Corp. said Thursday it is testing the waters to determine the interest of Appalachian producers in a potential expansion of its existing natural gas pipeline system that would permit delivery of additional supplies to markets in the Upper Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week charged the former managing director of Enron North America (ENA) and co-head of its commercial transactions group with violating antifraud provisions of federal securities laws and for aiding and abetting Enron’s violations for reporting and record-keeping provisions.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday charged the former managing director of Enron North America (ENA) and co-head of its commercial transactions group with violating antifraud provisions of federal securities laws and for aiding and abetting Enron’s violations for reporting and record-keeping provisions.

FERC has given Dominion Cove Point LNG LP the green light to begin commercial operation of a new fifth storage tank at its liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal on the eastern shore of Maryland. With the new tank, the facility’s LNG storage capacity will be expanded to 7.8 Bcf from its current capacity of 5 Bcf. The company plans to add two or three more tanks later to accommodate volumes for Statoil, bringing total storage capacity to 14.6 Bcf. It also plans to expand current vaporization of 1 Bcf/d to 1.8 Bcf/d.

FERC has given Dominion Cove Point LNG LP the green light to begin commercial operation of a new fifth storage tank at its liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal on the eastern shore of Maryland. With the new tank, the facility’s LNG storage capacity will be expanded to 7.8 Bcf from its current capacity of 5 Bcf. The company plans to add two or three more tanks later to accommodate volumes for Statoil, bringing total storage capacity to 14.6 Bcf. It also plans to expand current vaporization of 1 Bcf/d to 1.8 Bcf/d.