Denver

Xcel Energy Inc. will be the name of the holding company createdby the merger of Denver-based New Century Energies and NorthernStates Power Co. of Minneapolis.

Xcel Energy Inc. will be the name of the holding company createdby the merger of Denver-based New Century Energies and NorthernStates Power Co. of Minneapolis.

The Coastal Corporation has announced that its Coastal Powersubsidiary will build a 265 MW gas-fired power plant northeast ofDenver. Fulton Cogeneration Associates, L.P., an affiliate ofCoastal Power, will own and operate the plant and has entered intoa power purchase agreement with Public Service Company of Coloradobeginning in May of 2000. Construction of the facility will beginthis summer near Brush, CO. Colorado Interstate Gas Company, also asubsidiary of The Coastal Corporation, will build a pipeline fromits Young and Fort Morgan natural gas storage fields to transportnatural gas to the plant.

Rentech Inc. of Denver signed an exclusive agreement withPhoenix Gas Systems LLC (PGS) of Long Beach, CA, to develop amodular system to produce liquid hydrocarbons from gas and othercarbon-bearing materials. Rentech developed a process to convertgas, solid, and liquid carbon-bearing materials into super-clean,high-value fuels, products and chemicals. Products includesulfur-free, aromatic free diesel fuel (Ecodiesel), naphtha andwaxes. The process is known as the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process orGas-to-Liquids (GTL). The naphtha and diesel fuel produced areideal fuels for the “advanced fuel cell” concept currently beingdeveloped for use in transport and utility vehicles.

The longevity of the San Juan Basin never ceases to amaze mostindustry observers. Like the Denver Broncos’ John Elway, thewestern producing basin in New Mexico and Colorado just seems tokeep coming back each year to produce even more despite its age andthe endless predictions of its degeneration by its critics.

Barrett Resources Corp., a Denver-based independent producer,reported that a major well blowout that erupted early Thursday mayhave been caused by “downhole casing failure due to extendedexposure to high pressure.”