Lowers

A long and often contentious processes came to a close last weekin Oklahoma with an Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) orderapproving a comprehensive agreement between Oklahoma Natural Gasthe OCC staff and the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office.

As part of an order approved yesterday by the OklahomaCorporation Commission (OCC), Oklahoma Natural Gas has agreed tolower its rates by $20 million and withdraw its state supreme courtappeal of a 1998 OCC order that required unbundling of its upstreamgas transportation and storage operations. The decision was part ofa comprehensive agreement signed by ONG, the OCC staff and theOklahoma Attorney General’s office, and approved by the OCC.

Chevron announced late Friday it adjusted its 1998 earnings toaccommodate $637 million in “potential losses” due to an OklahomaSupreme Court decision last week affirming a lower court’s rulingagainst the integrated oil and gas company. Chevron said it stillplans to seek aggressive review of the case.

The Energy Information Administration has lowered its wellheadprice forecast for the year by several percentage points but saidwellhead prices during the first quarter of 1999 should show a hugeincrease (28%) from average prices during this year’s warm firstquarter.