Interests

Tulsa-based Williams said Thursday it had completed the sale of its Alaska business interests, completing its exit from the petroleum refining and marketing business.

Riverton, WY-based U.S. Energy Corp. (USE) and its majority-owned subsidiary, Crested Corp., reported Tuesday that their Rocky Mountain Gas Inc. (RMG) subsidiary has entered into an agreement to acquire coalbed methane (CBM) properties from a non-disclosed party in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming for a combination of cash and equity. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

In its second deal with Goldman Sachs Co. in less than a month, El Paso Corp. has completed the sale of its interests in East Coast Power LLC for $456 million. The transaction, announced earlier this year, effectively reduces El Paso’s consolidated debt by $1 billion.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Thursday vacated and remanded a decision by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) approving a $1.4 billion rail project to carry coal from the Powder River Basin to power plants in the East and Midwest, saying the board failed to assess the environmental impact of increased coal burning.

Even though a natural gas pipeline would cut across Canada en route to the Lower 48, Canadian officials should back off while U.S. officials decide whether to offer subsidies on a proposed Alaska pipe, Gov. Frank Murkowski said at a Calgary energy conference last week.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Thursday vacated and remanded a decision by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) approving a $1.4 billion rail project to carry coal from the Powder River Basin to power plants in the East and Midwest, saying the board failed to assess the environmental impact of increased coal burning.

Even though a natural gas pipeline would cut across Canada en route to the Lower 48, Canadian officials should back off while U.S. officials decide whether to offer subsidies on a proposed Alaska pipe, Gov. Frank Murkowski said at a Calgary energy conference this week.

Canadian 88 Energy Corp., which has been undergoing a series of changes as it refocuses its interests in Alberta, said Friday that its board of directors has voted to rename the Calgary-based independent to Esprit Exploration Ltd. If approved as expected, the new name would be implemented “shortly thereafter,” said the company.

El Paso Energy Partners LP (EPN) claimed earnings and income records for 2002, and Monday, as management laid out its ambitious plans for 2003, it emphasized how it will grow independently and separately from general partner El Paso Corp.