Established

President Bush announced last week he has established aCabinet-level task force that will be led by Vice President RichardCheney to deal with the worsening energy picture.

Hanover Compressor completed its acquisition of Stewart &Stevenson Services’s natural gas compressor leasing business, anestablished market leader in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming, for$60 million in cash and notes. Under terms of the agreement,Hanover will purchase gas compression equipment and related supportfrom Stewart & Stevenson, and Stewart & Stevenson willrefer subsequent compression leasing business to Hanover. “Theacquisition of Stewart & Stevenson’s PAMCO ServicesInternational (PSI) unit is another step in our strategic plan toextend Hanover’s leadership of the compression rental servicesmarket,” said Hanover CEO Michael J. McGhan. “This acquisition addsoutstanding personnel and equipment to Hanover’s existingoperations and establishes for our Company a major base ofoperations in the rapidly growing Powder River Basin of Wyoming,one of the major coal-bed methane-producing regions of the U.S.”

BP Amoco’s recently established Gas & Power division isbuying the remaining shares of ProGas Ltd. it does not already own.The acquisition will bring the volume of Canadian gas marketed byBP Amoco Gas & Power to 3 Bcf/d and increase its total NorthAmerican sales to 7 Bcf/d.

American businesses-from financial institutions andsophisticated manufacturing plants to established farms-areincreasingly interested generating their own electricity onlocation, according to a national survey. Some of these businessesplan to upgrade currently installed back-up generation equipmentwithin the next 12 months, according to the study. These companies,together with businesses seeking increased control of operations,lower costs, or fewer power disruptions, add up to a viablestart-up market for on-site power plants, the survey said.

Energy consulting company Skipping Stone Inc. is adding acommunications systems notch to its bow with the acquisition ofTransCapacity Inc., an established provider of software and systemsto automate pipeline transportation.

Energy consulting company Skipping Stone Inc. is adding acommunications systems notch to its bow with the acquisition ofTransCapacity Inc., an established provider of software and systemsto automate pipeline transportation.

Following the lead established late Monday, natural gas futurescontinued higher yesterday day as short-term traders bought intothe rally. The August contract closed up 3.2 cents at $2.176,shortly after notching its $2.18 high trade for the day.

Edison Mission Energy, an Edison International companyestablished Midwest Generation EME LLC to own and operate Illinoisfossil-fuel electric generating plants to be acquired fromCommonwealth Edison later this year. Midwest Generation EME alsowill operate a coal-fired power plant in Homer City, PA, which wasacquired earlier this year.

CMS Energy’s CMS Marketing, Services and Trading (CMS-MST) hasacquired 50% of North Carolina-based energy marketer Enline EnergySolutions.