Increase

Bringing oil and gas giants Exxon and Mobil Corp. together lastyear has gone more smoothly than management anticipated, pushingearnings to record levels, and management said last week it willuse that extra money for new projects, more research and moretechnology to improve the bottom line in the years to come.

Bringing oil and gas giants Exxon and Mobil Corp. together lastyear has gone more smoothly than management anticipated, pushingearnings to record levels, and management said yesterday it usethat extra money for new projects, more research and moretechnology that will improve the bottom line in the years to come.

A handful of law firms have filed class action lawsuits onbehalf of Avista Corp.’s stockholders after the company reported aloss of $22.1 million or $0.47 per share in the second quarter,stemming from unhedged power trades in the forward market.

Reliant Energy Gas Transmission (REGT) completed installation ofan 18-mile extension of its mainline in East Texas to increase gasdeliveries to Southwestern Electric Power’s (SWEPCO) 882 MW Wilkesgenerating plant, located near Marshall.

Reliant Energy Gas Transmission (REGT) completed installation ofan 18-mile extension of its mainline in East Texas to increase gasdeliveries to Southwestern Electric Power’s (SWEPCO) 882 MW Wilkesgenerating plant, located near Marshall.

Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline officials predict there couldbe a service delay and a rate increase on its 164,000 MMBtu/d SaintJohn lateral because clearing work has been stopped illegally byunion workers. Work was scheduled to begin last Monday on theproject, but union laborers physically prevented clearing by HEFIndustries Ltd., the hired excavation/clearing contractor, whichuses non-union labor.

Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline officials predict there couldbe a service delay and a rate increase on its 164,000 MMBtu/d SaintJohn lateral because clearing work has been stopped illegally byunion workers. Work was scheduled to begin Monday on the project,but union laborers have physically prevented clearing by HEFIndustries Ltd., the hired excavation/clearing contractor, whichuses non-union labor.

Boosted by a more than a nickel increase in during the overnightAccess trading session, followed by a second straight day of higherearly morning over-the-counter dealings, natural gas futures werequick out of the chute Tuesday as traders set their sights onceagain on the key $4.00 level. But just like Monday, yesterday’searly buying quickly turned into profit-taking when it becameapparent $4.00 was beyond bulls’ reach. The June contract finished6.7 cents stronger at $3.814, after trading within a tight,8.5-cent range.

The 50 largest U.S. oil and natural gas producers reported afive-fold increase in net profits during 1999, spurred byescalating oil and gas prices and lower operating costs, accordingto a new analysis by the energy research firm of John S. HeroldInc.