June

Expected to replace the current program expiring at the end of June, Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton said Monday that the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) is proposing to schedule 20 lease sales in eight outer continental shelf (OCS) planning areas in the Gulf of Mexico and offshore Alaska as part of a new five-year leasing program. The proposed sale areas are in the Gulf of Mexico’s western, central and parts of the eastern planning areas, as well as Alaska’s Beaufort Sea, Norton Basin, Cook Inlet/Shelikof Strait and the Chukchi Sea/Hope Basin.

The Bush administration is petitioning the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to review a federal judge’s decision in June that blocked oil and natural gas exploration off the coast of California until the state’s Coastal Commission could assess the environmental impact of future drilling activity.

Prices were falling almost across the board Tuesday in both late-June swing deals and in bidweek trading. The screen was an obvious negative influence, but of greater impact was a growing feeling that prospects are dim for the market to pull out of its tailspin anytime soon.

Williams Gas Pipeline Central is holding a binding open season through June 29 for 540,000 Dth/d of firm capacity on its proposed Western Frontier Pipeline Project. The project would provide a new transportation corridor from the Cheyenne Hub in northern Colorado to market points and connections with other Midcontinent pipelines in Kansas and Oklahoma.

Williams Gas Pipeline Central is holding a binding open season through June 29 for 540,000 Dth/d of firm capacity on its proposed Western Frontier Pipeline Project. The project would provide a new transportation corridor from the Cheyenne Hub in northern Colorado to market points and connections with other Midcontinent pipelines in Kansas and Oklahoma.

Lakehead Pipe Line Co. Inc. appointed Dan C. Tutcher to the position of president of the company effective June 5, 2001. Tutcher was previously the chairman, president and CEO of Midcoast Energy Resources Inc. from its formation in 1992 until it was acquired on May 11, 2001, by Enbridge Inc. At that time, Tutcher was appointed group vice president, transportation group south, by Enbridge. Lakehead Pipe Line is the General Partner of Lakehead Pipe Line Partners, L.P. and is indirectly wholly owned by Enbridge. “The Houston-based business development team brought over from Midcoast has an established track record of profitable growth, which we expect to continue on behalf of Lakehead,” said Tutcher. “In particular, our knowledge of emerging Mid-continent and Gulf Coast transportation requirements and excellent relationships within the energy industry will allow us to execute our strategy.”

NiSource Inc., headquartered in Merrillville, IN, is expanding its Washington, D.C. presence to enhance the company’s advocacy efforts on federal government issues, and beginning June 4, Rebecca T. Sczudlo will be the company’s vice president of federal government affairs. Sczudlo has 20 years experience in government affairs and communications, including seven years as a staff member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. She also has worked for Shell Oil Co. as a government affairs representative. She will report to NiSource CEO Gary Neale on policy matters and to Ramon Arredondo, assistant to Neale, administratively.

NiSource Inc., headquartered in Merrillville, IN, is expanding its Washington, D.C. presence to enhance the company’s advocacy efforts on federal government issues, and beginning June 4, Rebecca T. Sczudlo will be the company’s vice president of federal government affairs. Sczudlo has 20 years experience in government affairs and communications, including seven years as a staff member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. She also has worked for Shell Oil Co. as a government affairs representative. She will report to NiSource CEO Gary Neale on policy matters and to Ramon Arredondo, assistant to Neale, administratively.

Cross Timbers Oil Co., riding high on a wave of record earnings and gas production growth, has adopted a new name, XTO Energy Inc., which takes effect June 1. The company will continue to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “XTO.”