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The Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy announced plans last week to partially fund 20 oil and gas research and development projects with a total contribution reaching more than $22 million.

The Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy announced plans Wednesday to partially fund 20 oil and gas research and development projects with a total contribution reaching more than $22 million.

Vancouver-based KMS Power Income Fund, through its manager KMS Energy Inc., has announced a 10-month gas swap contract with Nicor Energy LLC, designed to fix prices for a proportion of the natural gas used by KMS Crossroads. The agreement, at a price of $5.07/MMBtu, encompasses 20,000 MMBtu/month, representing about 40% of the average gas consumption at KMS Crossroads.

California state and local officials Thursday reviewed a new proposal from Houston-based Reliant Energy offering lower emergency spot market power prices in exchange for letting up on air emission restrictions that limit the hours of operation annually to some of Reliant’s power plants along the coast in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

California state and local officials Thursday reviewed a new proposal from Houston-based Reliant Energy offering lower emergency spot market power prices in exchange for letting up on air emission restrictions that limit the hours of operation annually to some of Reliant’s power plants along the coast in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

Enerplus Resources Fund, headquartered in Vancouver, paid C$104million for 100% of the outstanding shares of an undisclosedprivate Canadian pension resource corporation that owns producingoil and natural gas properties in Western Canada. The propertiesproduced approximately 2,650 boe/d in a three-month period endingSept. 30. The production included 1,740 bbl/d of crude oil andnatural gas liquids and 9,100 Mcf/d. Average third quarterproduction represents a 22% increase over Enerplus’ third quarteraverage of 12,014 boe/d. Total established reserves are 12,248 Mbblof crude oil and natural gas liquids and 70.7 Bcf, for a total of19,312 Mboe. The deal was funded through a combination of cash fromexisting credit facilities and the assumption of debt, whichtotaled 75% of the purchase price. The rest was financed withEnerplus Trust Units.

Pressured by a steady stream of local and fund selling, naturalgas futures slid lower yesterday amid an improving winter storageoutlook and continued mild temperatures across the nation. TheNovember contract took it squarely on the chin, dropping 25.2 centsto close at $4.82, almost a dollar below its Oct. 12 high.

Austin, TX-based Green Mountain Energy has received aninvestment of $53.5 million to fund its growth in marketing cleanerenergy sources in deregulated markets in the United States. Oddlyenough, the investment will come overseas from Nuon, the largestutility in the Netherlands and a leading provider of green energyin Europe.

Austin, TX-based Green Mountain Energy has received aninvestment of $53.5 million to fund its growth in marketing cleanerenergy sources in deregulated markets in the United States. Oddlyenough, the investment will come overseas from Nuon, the largestutility in the Netherlands and a leading provider of green energyin Europe.