Concentrate

Williams, which restructured its business to concentrate on its core natural gas businesses — exploration, midstream and gas pipelines — agreed Monday to cast off substantially all of its power assets to Bear Energy LP, a unit of The Bear Stearns Cos. Inc., in a deal valued at $512 million. The transaction includes 7,700 MW of gas-fired tolling capacity, 1,800 MW of full requirements power supply contracts and a trading book.

Fort Worth-based independent Range Resources Corp. may sell its Gulf Coast properties to concentrate its exploration efforts in Texas, Appalachia and the Midcontinent, the company said Monday. The Gulf Coast assets, 85% weighted to natural gas, account for about 4% of Range’s proved reserves and 11% of its production.

With a corporate strategic goal of becoming the nation’s leading utility, PG&E Corp. has no plans for mergers or acquisitions and will concentrate on creating new earnings opportunities within the regulated utility business, according to CEO Peter Darbee. He made the remarks Thursday on a conference call announcing earnings that were down for the fourth quarter last year, but increased for all of 2006, compared with 2005.

With a corporate strategic goal of becoming the nation’s leading utility, PG&E Corp. has no plans for mergers or acquisitions and will concentrate on creating new earnings opportunities within the regulated utility business, according to CEO Peter Darbee. He made the remarks Thursday on a conference call announcing earnings that were down for the fourth quarter last year, but increased for all of 2006, compared with 2005.

With plans to concentrate its exploration and development efforts on the emerging Cotton Valley trend of East Texas and northwestern Louisiana, Houston-based Goodrich Petroleum Corp. last week agreed to sell nearly all of its South Louisiana assets to an undisclosed buyer for $100 million.

With a plan to concentrate its exploration and development efforts on the emerging Cotton Valley trend of East Texas and northwestern Louisiana, Houston-based Goodrich Petroleum Corp. agreed Tuesday to sell nearly all of its South Louisiana assets to an undisclosed buyer for $100 million.

Sierra Pacific Resources said last Monday it plans to explore opportunities to sell its 50% interest in the Tuscarora Gas Transmission pipeline in order to concentrate more fully on its utility businesses in Nevada.

Sierra Pacific Resources announced plans Monday to explore opportunities to sell its 50% interest in the Tuscarora Gas Transmission pipeline in order to concentrate more fully on its utility businesses in Nevada.

Murphy Oil Corp., which announced last month that it is pulling out of Western Canada to concentrate on more deepwater development, on Tuesday cut 15% off of this year’s capital budget compared with 2003. Nearly 77% of the $843 million budget will be allocated to the upstream.