Including

The U.S. Senate has approved a bill including $500 million inloan guarantees for independent oil and gas producers and thepetroleum service industry. The loan guarantee program is part ofH.R. 1664, which is now on its way to a House/Senate conferencecommittee. The product of that committee will then be sent back toboth houses for ratification. The bill drew praise from theIndependent Petroleum Assoc. which called it a “tool that America’soil and gas producers will be able to use to help them recover fromthe recent devastating period of low oil prices.” The groupcredited Sen. Pete Dominici, R-NM for leading the initiative. Underthe program 85% of the loans of up to $10 million will be coveredby a government-backed repayment guarantee. The bill alsoestablishes a $1 billion loan program for the steel industry.

Nipsco Industries Inc. subsidiary Energy USA Inc. last week completed its acquisition of TPC Corp., including its 66% interest in Market Hub Partners LP. The deal was finalized April 1 and is valued at about $150 million.

Nipsco Industries Inc. said subsidiary Energy USA Inc. completedits acquisition of TPC Corp., including its 66% interest in MarketHub Partners LP. The deal was finalized April 1 and is valued atabout $150 million.

A recent administrative action in New York that would subjectthe delivery of electricity, including power purchased fromthird-party suppliers, to the state’s sales tax has the potentialto undermine fledgling efforts to restructure the retail powermarket, say utilities and marketers.

In a move similar to those of its peers, Chevron Corp. announcedit would cut expenses by $500 million next year, including someunspecified staff reductions, and spend about $5.1 billion, 8% lessthan was spent in 1998. Cuts in 1999 capital spending will beaccomplished primarily in the company’s mature North AmericanE&ampP business, as well as in refining and marketing and inchemicals.

Advanced turbine systems (ATS), including microturbines, andfuel cells, took the top dollars in the Department of Energyresearch, development and demonstration budget for FY99, accordingto a budget assessment by the American Gas Association. Overall,AGA estimated DOE’s research funding for natural gas set a newrecord at $246 million. That’s up from the $209 million in thisyear’s budget.

FERC acted on a number of other key items last week, includingthe Gas Research Institute’s (GRI) budget, new firm transportationservices on Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line’s production-area supplylaterals, and tariff sheets enabling Tennessee Gas Pipeline toenter into certain types of discount agreements with customerswithout first getting prior approval.

Kerr-McGee Corp. yesterday joined a growing number of companies,including ARCO, Unocal and Occidental Petroleum, that plan torestructure or reduce workforces because of the depressed oilmarket. Kerr-McGee said it plans to layoff about 70 workers,reducing its Oklahoma City metropolitan area workforce by 7% andits exploration and production company staff by a similar amount.The company, which has $3.7 billion in assets and had already shedits coal businesses this year, said the restructuring is designedto save 20% of annual overhead cost, or about $18 million.

FERC disregarded the objections of Viosca Knoll Gathering andwaived guaranteed future revenue regulations to let a DestinPipeline expansion go forward last week. Destin plans to construct31 miles of pipeline from a platform at Viosca Knoll Block 900 to atie-in with a Destin lateral in Main Pass Block 279.