Interest

Saying that the merger was in the best interest of the public, theOregon Public Utility Commission yesterday approved Sierra PacificResources’ application to acquire Portland General Electric(PGE). Sierra Pacific last year announced it would acquire PGE, awholly owned subsidiary of Enron Corp. for $2.1 billion, excludingdebt (see Daily GPI, Nov. 9, 1999).

Schlumberger Ltd. is acquiring a majority interest in ConvergentGroup Corp., a digital company offering companies Internetsolutions, for $276 million. The merger agreement, which givesSchlumberger 71.7% of Convergent, will result in a new entity,Convergent Holding Corp., and will give Schlumberger a stake in thegrowing global digital economy.

Westcoast Energy has shelved the proposed Orca Natural GasPipeline project because of a lack of market interest in thePacific Northwest. The proposed 140-mile pipeline from Sumas, WA,to points along the coast, was expected to be in service in 2004.

Westcoast Energy has shelved the proposed Orca Natural GasPipeline project because of a lack of market interest in thePacific Northwest. The proposed 140-mile pipeline from Sumas, WA,to points along the coast, was expected to be in service in 2004.

To resolve concerns raised by the Federal Trade Commission overthe proposed merger of DTE Energy and MCN Energy, MCN has agreed totransfer a property interest to a unit of Unicom Corp. that wouldallow for the use of up to 20 Bcf of natural gas transportationcapacity annually on MCN’s Michigan Consolidated Gas Co. system inthe relevant distribution area.

Tennessee Gas Pipeline is holding an open season through May 31to solicit interest in its Mississippi 500 Line Expansion Project.Tennessee expects the expansion to involve about 700,000 Dth/d offirm service starting June 1, 2001.

Tennessee Gas Pipeline is holding an open season through May 31to solicit interest in its Mississippi 500 Line Expansion Project.Tennessee expects the expansion to involve about 700,000 Dth/d offirm service starting June 1, 2001.

Led by heavy buying interest in winter months, natural gasfutures continued to defy gravity yesterday as traders bid themarket up for the seventh straight session. June finished up 5.2cents at $3.448, but the real story was the Nov-Mar. strip, whichnotched an impressive 7.3-cent gain to close at $3.613.

Interest in pipeline capacity auctions is far from dead at theFederal Energy Regulatory Commission. Just ask FERC’s Kevin Madden,who hasn’t given up on them and thinks they have a major role toplay in the natural gas industry.