Hits

While oil and gas companies took huge hits during the 19-monthenergy price crash between 1997 and early 1999, one silver liningwas the effectiveness of government incentive programs in assistingthe beleaguered industry, said the Interstate Oil and Gas CompactCommission (IOGCC). The findings were drawn from an IOGCC reportpublished last week titled Against the Wind: The Economic Impact ofIncentives during the Oil Price Collapse.

Houston-based Coral Energy launched coralconnect.com, ane-business Web site featuring e-commerce transactions, customizedcommodity price information, proprietary energy market analysis andother customer services.

Houston-based Coral Energy launched coralconnect.com, ane-business Web site featuring e-commerce transactions, customizedcommodity price information, proprietary energy market analysis andother customer services.

Calling it the largest reserve discovery in the AppalachianBasin, Columbia Natural Resources (CNR), a Columbia Energy Groupsubsidiary, said it found reserves with estimated production of 50MMcf/d while drilling deep into a sub-basin in Roane County, WV.The exploratory test well was drilled to a depth of 10,300 feet inthe Trenton-Black River Formation on the Vineyard Ridge prospect.

Exxon has blown away previous production test records for gaswells in the Gulf of Mexico and the state of Alabama. The companyannounced yesterday that it tested a well in Mobile Bay about 2.5miles offshore south of Dauphin Island at 126 MMcf/d. The previousrecord in Alabama state waters was 91 MMcf/d. The well also testedat a higher open flow rate than any well in the federal OuterContinental Shelf area of the Gulf. The OCS record was 113 MMcf/d.

Calling it the largest reserve discovery in the AppalachianBasin, Columbia Natural Resources (CNR), a Columbia Energy Groupsubsidiary, said it found reserves with estimated production of 50MMcf/d while drilling deep into a sub-basin in Roane County, WV.The exploratory test well was drilled to a depth of 10,300 feet inthe Trenton-Black River Formation on the Vineyard Ridge prospect.

No news was good news on Monday – at least to the bears – as themarket continued to take back gains registered last week in frantichurricane-related trading. That prompted the October contract todrop 7.3 cents to settle at $2.187 yesterday as traders searchedfor any indication that Hurricane Georges (pronounced ZHORZH) wouldaffect natural gas interests in the Gulf of Mexico.

Triple-digit temperatures throughout much of California inlandfrom the Pacific Coast spurred record energy demand, promptingstate and utility officials to call for voluntary cutbacks inelectricity usage on the eve of the Labor Day holiday weekend.Collectively, August turned out to be California’s hottest ever,further testing the reliability of the new power system in thestate.As Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas and Electricand the nation’s largest municipal utility, the City of Los AngelesDepartment of Water and Power, all registered record power demandMonday, a corresponding record for natural gas delivered toelectric generating plants was marked at Southern California Gas,which transports supplies to all three electric utilities. Gassupplies for power generation equaled 1.92 Bcf/d on Monday,surpassing a one-day record set Aug. 11, 1994 (1.877 Bcf), and aspokesperson for SoCalGas said with the prediction of more hotweather later in the week, “there is a chance we will surpass thenew record.”

The Williams Companies reported first-quarter 1998 results werereduced primarily by costs related to its MAPCO acquisition,unfavorable conditions in some energy market sectors and continuedinvestment in the company’s communications business.