General Electric (GE) announced Thursday it has entered into ajoint venture with Plug Power, a Latham NY-based company dedicatedto the development and manufacturing of fuel cells, to market fuelcells worldwide. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Thetwo companies will combine efforts to form a new company called GEFuel Cell Systems. GE will own 75% of the new company, with PlugPower owning the rest. GE also acquired 10% of Plug Power ownershipin the deal.
Into
Articles from Into
Deep-water Genesis Starts Production
The Genesis Project, a deep-water oil and natural gas platform, has gone into production in 2,600 feet of water in the Gulf ofMexico. The drilling and production platform, operated by Chevron,is expected to produce approximately 30,000 barrels of oil and morethan 20 MMcf/d during 1999. Production is planned to increase at asteady pace so that in 2000 Genesis will reach its peak productioncapacity of 55,000 barrels of oil and 72 MMcf/d.
PGW Exits Electricity, Cuts Marketing Dept.
Saying it wants to focus on its core gas business, PhiladelphiaGas Works (PGW) has abandoned its entry into electricity marketingand several other retail marketing ventures and will reduce thesize of its marketing staff. PGW is the nation’s largestmunicipally owned utility.
Kerr-McGee Announces 1999 Budget
Kerr-McGee Corp., taking into account the unfinished merger withOryx Energy (See Daily GPI, Oct. 16), revealed Friday a $545million capital budget for 1999. The merged company plans 1999daily production volumes at 190,000 barrels of oil and 580 MMcf ofgas.
TransColorado Tests Phase 2, Expects First Flows in Feb.
TransColorado Gas Transmission started pressuring up it Phase 2extension into western Colorado last week and expects to begintransportation services from the northern Rockies to the San JuanBasin some time next month, pending FERC approval of its ratedesign.
Transportation Note
A systemwide entitlement against overtakes that began Dec. 19 onNorthwest remained in effect going into the holiday weekend.Northwest said Wednesday it would continue to operate under a Stage1 entitlement at 3% because it had not seen sufficient improvementin system conditions. However, as of Wednesday the entitlement waslifted on points south of Kemmerer (WY) Station.
Consumers Energy Dives into Mich. Deregulation
In an effort to attract customers in Semco Gas’ pilotderegulation program, Consumers Energy is offering a deal it sayswill save switching residents up to $70 over three years. Consumersis guaranteeing a price of $2.84 per Mcf for three years, comparedto Semco’s price of $2.94 over the same period of time. Consumerswould start delivering gas to new customers April 1, 1999.
Houston Industries Inks AZ Power Deal
Houston Industries’ Wholesale Energy Group (HI) continued toentrench itself into the western energy market by agreeing with thecity of Casa Grande, AZ, to build a new 500 MW natural gas-firedpower plant. The plant will cost $263 million, and upon completionHI will arrange for the supply of gas and sell the electricityproduced from the plant.
Short-Covering Buoys December into Expiration
Plentiful amounts of gas in underground storage and relativelywarm temperatures once again had bears licking their chopsyesterday. But after two attempts failed to push the market lower,short-covering activity propelled the market higher during the lasthour of trading. December posted a 5.2-cent gain to $2.149 Tuesday,and in doing so, became the first contract since March to post again on its last trading day.
Prices Hit Plateau, But Weekend Weakness Seen
The cash market, seeing essentially nothing in the way ofdirectional influence, went into a holding pattern Thursday withfew points straying any further than 2-3 cents on either side offlat. A screen drop of just under a penny was deemedinconsequential, and even though some market areas were seeingnear-freezing temperatures Thursday, forecasts of warmer weatherfor the weekend through the middle of next week tempered any buyingenthusiasm.