Million

Swift Energy Co. has agreed with Sonat Exploration Co., asubsidiary of Sonat Inc., to purchase for $87.6 million producingoil and gas properties that will increase its reserves by about25%. The deal signifies a redirection of Swift spending plans awayfrom drilling and to acquisition in light of depressed oil prices.

The Texas Supreme Court let stand an appeals court decision thatreversed a $204 million damage award against a subsidiary ofMitchell Energy & Development Corp. in the 1996 “Bartlett” casein which plaintiffs alleged the company contaminated water wells inWise County, TX. “Friday’s announcement by the Texas Supreme Court,and recent decisions at the district court level, are significantvictories because these cases clearly establish the fact thatMitchell is not the cause of any water quality problems in NorthTexas,” said Tom Battle, Mitchell general counsel.

Existing shippers on Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line haveshredded the pipeline company’s $529 million MarketLink expansionproject, saying it should be rejected by the Commission, or Transcoshould be put at risk for the cost. The project would add 154 milesof pipeline looping and 62,400 hp of compression along Transco’sLeidy Line, which extends from the Leidy hub in westernPennsylvania to New York City.

Insignia/ESG, Inc. formed an alliance with Enron Energy Services(EES) to provide energy services for a 215 million-square-footportfolio of commercial and residential properties leased andmanaged by Insignia/ESG throughout the United States. Enron willanalyze energy consumption and cut costs through efficiencyenhancements. “This program will allow us to take advantage ofmarket opportunities that have arisen from deregulation of theenergy industry,” said Stephen B. Siegel, CEO of Insignia/ESG.

The American Gas Association said yesterday 30% of the U.S.households with gas service, or 17 million homes, have or soon willhave the opportunity to purchase their natural gas from a supplierother than their local gas utility.

Duke Energy, Iroquois Pipeline and Williams Cos. have teamed upto build a $240 million gas pipeline, called the LighthousePipeline, to extend under Long Island Sound to southernConnecticut. The pipeline would transport U.S. and Canadian naturalgas from Williams’ Transco pipeline, Duke’s Algonquin and TexasEastern pipelines and the Iroquois pipeline to new generationprojects in Southern Connecticut. It’s also expected to facilitatedevelopment of other power generation projects on Long Island.

TransCanada PipeLines will be continuing its steady pace ofexpansions with a $984 million construction program in 1999 to add275 MMcf/d in delivery capacity to eastern Canada and the U.S.Midwest and Northeast.

Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania’s supplier-choice program savedparticipating customers in Washington and Allegheny counties about$1.8 million during the 1997-98 winter heating season, the companysaid. Paula Frauen, manager of energy services, said the 37,000residential and small commercial customers enrolled in the programeach saved about $9 a month, 8.6% less than what they would havepaid had they bought gas from Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania.

MichCon announced plans yesterday to give all of its 1.2 millionretail gas customers a choice of suppliers over the next threeyears. The Detroit-based distributor filed an application with theMichigan Public Service Commission for the program earlier thisweek. It is designed to begin next January with 225,000 customers.The plan also would reduce gas costs by 7% to $2.95/Mcf and freezethem for three years for those customers who continue to useMichCon as their gas provider.