Million

BP Amoco strengthened its position as North America’s No. 1 gasproducer through a $500 million deal to buy a significant part ofRepsol-YPF’s holding in Crescendo Resources, a major gas producerand processor in Texas and Oklahoma.

Seeking deeper penetration into Mexico’s gas liquids market,Penn Octane Corp. entered into a multi-year, $40 million contractwith PG&E Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) Marketing L.P. to purchasesupplies of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), the companies saidyesterday. The LPG will be supplied to Penn Octane’s pipelinenetwork in Texas from PG&E’s Shoup Fractionation Plant nearCorpus Christi, TX.

Houston-based El Paso Energy Corp. plans to acquire Crystal GasStorage Inc. of Shreveport, LA, for $57 cash per Crystal share in adeal worth $224.6 million.

Ingleside Cogeneration, L.P., a joint venture subsidiary ofOccidental Petroleum Corp. and Conoco, has completed a $200million, 440 MW cogeneration facility in South Texas. The plant hasstarted providing power for the adjacent OxyChem and DuPontchemical facilities, officials for the joint venture saidyesterday. In addition, enough excess electrical power will be soldinto the newly deregulated Texas grid for 75,000 homes andbusinesses.

Talisman Energy Inc. of Calgary said it was successful in itsoffer to acquire Rigel Energy Corp. About 55 million common shareshave been tendered in response to its offer to purchase all of thecommon shares of Rigel Energy Corp. This represents more than 95%of Rigel shares on a fully diluted basis. All of the conditions ofTalisman’s offer have been satisfied. Talisman has taken up and ispaying for all of the Rigel common shares validly tendered up tothe expiry time of the offer. Talisman intends to acquire theremainder of the Rigel shares.

TransCanada PipeLines Ltd. of Calgary, Alberta, completedEnerg¡a Mayakan, a $266 million, 435-mile gas pipeline in Mexico’sYucatan peninsula. The pipeline is expected to go into commercialoperation by the end of September.

A study of 10 of the largest U.S. natural gas pipelines showsthey can expect to collectively derive a total of $42.5 millionannually in savings from Gas Research Institute technologies over afour-year period from 1997 to 2000, GRI said.

UtiliCorp United agreed to sell its West Virginia Power divisionto Allegheny Energy Inc. for $75 million in cash. In addition,separate transactions include a 20-year supply agreement forUtiliCorp’s Aquila Energy unit to provide gas to Allegheny, and anagreement for Allegheny to purchase Appalachian Electric Heating,UtiliCorp’s heating and air conditioning service operations in WestVirginia. A spokesman said details of the gas supply and otheragreements are confidential.

UtiliCorp United agreed to sell its West Virginia Power divisionto Allegheny Energy Inc. for $75 million in cash. In addition,separate transactions include a 20-year supply agreement forUtiliCorp’s Aquila Energy unit to provide gas to Allegheny, and anagreement for Allegheny to purchase Appalachian Electric Heating,UtiliCorp’s heating and air conditioning service operations in WestVirginia. A spokesman said details of the gas supply and otheragreements are confidential.