Goes

With just over a year to go before the new Alberta-to-Chicagolink, Alliance Pipeline, goes into service, TransCanada PipeLinesand affiliate Nova Gas Transmission already are feeling the impactof the competition.

Vector Energy Corp., created just over a year ago through oiland gas asset acquisitions, is leaving drill bits behind in favorof dot-coms and ISPs. “Nobody cares about oil and gas,” said VectorFounder and President Sam Skipper. Over the next several yearsVector will be either divesting its oil and gas properties ormerging them into another company, he said. Meanwhile it’s headingfor Internet territory, with a letter of intent to acquire onepublicly-held Internet Service Provider (ISP) and promises of anagreement with another with 8,000 subscribers.

Semco Energy Inc. of Port Huron, MI, agreed to buy EnstarNatural Gas and the Alaska Pipeline Co. (together known as Enstar)for $290 million in cash. The Anchorage, AK-based gas distributionsystem and transmission company are currently owned by Ocean EnergyInc.

Semco Energy Inc. of Port Huron, MI, agreed to buy EnstarNatural Gas and the Alaska Pipeline Co. (together known as Enstar)for $290 million in cash. The Anchorage, AK-based gas distributionsystem and transmission company are currently owned by Ocean EnergyInc.

Prices failed to fake out anyone Wednesday. With Tuesday’s latesoftness on the Nymex screen carrying over into Wednesday and thesubsidence of “the big bakeoff” in the Northeast, as one producercalled it, it didn’t take a crystal ball to make a bear marketcall. The larger declines on either side of a dime tended tocluster in the Gulf Coast, Appalachian, Northeast, Midcontinent andMidwest markets, while western drops generally were around a nickelor less. Unlike the late screen-related fallbacks reported Tuesday,traders said a number of points saw slight upticks in late dealsWednesday.

Merrillville, IN-based NiSource confirmed yesterday what someobservers have suspected for some time: that Columbia EnergyGroup’s failed bid for Consolidated Natural Gas was partly a veiledattempt to protect itself from being targeted by a buyer. NiSourceannounced that it has had an offer for Columbia on the table sinceApril 1 but has been rebuffed repeatedly and is making its hostilebid public in an effort to pressure Columbia’s board.

Shippers hoping to line up firm capacity to California on ElPaso better be ready to fight for it, according to Jerry Strange,El Paso director of transportation marketing.

Enbridge Inc., a Calgary-based energy transportation anddistribution company, entered the midstream business last week withthe purchase of a 35% share in AltaGas Inc., a Calgary-basedmidstream gas company, for $160 million. The deal is expected toclose in September.

Enbridge Inc., a Calgary-based energy transportation anddistribution company, entered the midstream business yesterday withthe purchase of a 35% share in AltaGas Inc., a Calgary-basedmidstream gas company, for $160 million. The deal is expected toclose in September.