Existing

California’s regulatory process for adding merchant power plantsand repowering existing merchant sites is likely to get morecomplicated and time-consuming, based on discussions at a Jan. 25one-day energy roundtable on market and infrastructure issuessponsored by the California Public Utilities Commission in SanDiego.

Beta Oil & Gas Inc. of Tulsa, OK, plans to acquire privateoil and gas producer Red River Energy Inc., also of Tulsa, for$23.5 — assuming about $7.6 million of existing debt and issuing2.25 million shares of Beta common stock. The deal is subject toapproval by Beta shareholders.

Beta Oil & Gas Inc. of Tulsa, OK, plans to acquire privateoil and gas producer Red River Energy Inc., also of Tulsa, for$23.5 – assuming about $7.6 million of existing debt and issuing2.25 million shares of Beta common stock. The deal is subject toapproval by Beta shareholders.

In what is possibly the largest business process outsourcing(BPO) contract to date, PricewaterhouseCoopers and BP Amoco agreedto expand their existing BPO relationship to the United States. Thedeal is valued at $1.1 billion.

In what is possibly the largest business process outsourcing(BPO) contract to date, PricewaterhouseCoopers and BP Amoco agreedto expand their existing BPO relationship to the United States. Thedeal is valued at $1.1 billion.

Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line’s proposal to revise the existingcash-out provisions of its tariff has come under heavy attack fromlarge shippers on its system.

New Jerseyites – by a margin of more than two-to-one – favorexpanding an existing natural gas pipeline to serve residents,according to a new public opinion poll that has been dropped intothe controversy over Williams-Transco’s proposed MarketLinkproject.

Hoping the second time is the charm, Duke Energy announcedWednesday an open season for 300,000 Dth/d of firm capacity on itsproposed Spectrum Pipeline project. The open season will last fromMay 7 to June 4.

Southern Union gained permission Tuesday to join an existinglawsuit against Southwest Gas in a last-ditch attempt to overtakeOneok as the winner in the race to merge with Southwest. Thelawsuit accuses Southwest Gas’ board of directors of refusing tonegotiate with Southern Union in good faith. None of the partiesinvolved would comment further on the situation as of press time.