Offering

Dynamic Offshore Resources LLC, which has been on a buying spree in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) prior to the launch of an initial public offering (IPO), is paying ExxonMobil Corp. $182.5 million to acquire some offshore wells and properties that are 60% weighted to natural gas. The 13.5 million boe in new reserves would pump up Dynamic’s reserves base by nearly one-third (31%).

Williams late Tuesday reaffirmed its interest in acquiring Southern Union Co. by offering to buy the company for $44/share in cash — the same amount it offered in July.

Energy Transfer Equity LP (ETE) last week upped the ante for Southern Union Co., offering to pay $40/share, or a total of close to $8.9 billion, in a simplified cash-and-equity deal, which includes the assumption of debt. The offer is 42% higher than Southern Union’s closing price on June 15, the last trading day before the original merger agreement was unveiled.

Energy Transfer Equity LP (ETE) on Tuesday upped the ante for Southern Union Co., offering to pay $40/share, or a total of $8.8 billion, in a simplified cash-and-equity deal, which includes the assumption of debt. The offer is 42% higher than Southern Union’s closing price on June 15, the last trading day before the original merger agreement was unveiled.

Officials with the City of Morgantown, WV, said the city might take Northeast Natural Energy (NNE) to court if the city passes an ordinance banning hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) and the company subsequently starts using the practice at two Marcellus Shale gas wells.

CenterPoint Energy has rolled out its natural gas standby generator program under which participating dealers are offering Houston-area customers the ability to obtain a $500 credit on their natural gas bills for purchasing and installing a gas-fueled standby generator.

Two West Coast utilities — one private- and the other public-sector — are leading the nation in offering green power programs to retail customers, according to the Department of Energy (DOE). Portland General Electric (PGE) in Oregon has more renewable energy customers than any utility in the nation, DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) indicated in national rankings released Tuesday. At the end of 2010, PGE had nearly 78,000 residential and business customers, or 12.6% of its eligible customers, enrolled in a renewable power program, well ahead of the national average of 2%. Portland, OR-based PGE led the nation in renewable sales in 2010 for the sixth consecutive year. In California the Santa Clara municipal utility, Silicon Valley Power, is in the top 10 nationally with its green power program, drawing more than 100 businesses and nearly 4,000 homes to the program, NREL’s report confirmed. Silicon Valley sold more than 70,000 MWh of green-based power last year.

Schlumberger Ltd. CEO Andrew Gould repeated an old adage and added something new to it on Monday, telling an industry audience in New Orleans, “if you want to find oil, you have to drill. And if you want to produce unconventional gases or oils, it is even truer.”

North American liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plans are on the table from coast-to-coast-to-coast, offering a tantalizing option for buyers in Europe and the Asia Pacific region that want secure and reliable energy supplies, a Wood Mackenzie Ltd. energy analyst told NGI last week.