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After struggling through an extended state approval process thatwas only revitalized earlier in the year with a uniquemobile-source air emissions credit deal, San Francisco-basedPG&E Corp. Monday completed a deal to sell the development andoperating rights for its proposed 500 MW Otay Mesa power projectsouth of San Diego to Calpine Corp., San Jose, CA, the aggressivemerchant power plant developer.

The Minerals Management Service has scheduled its only EasternGulf of Mexico sale in its current five-year leasing plan — andthe first proposed sale in the eastern section of the Gulf in morethan 12 years. Proposed lease sale 181, scheduled December 2001,would include 1,033 blocks covering 5,949 million acres — about8% of the total area in the Eastern Gulf Planning Area.

The Minerals Management Service has scheduled its only Eastern Gulf of Mexico sale in its current five-year leasing plan – and the first proposed sale in the eastern section of the Gulf in more than 12 years. Proposed lease sale 181, scheduled December 2001, would include 1,033 blocks covering 5,949 million acres – about 8% of the total area in the Eastern Gulf Planning Area.

For the fourth morning in a row, gas futures spiked higher onlyto come crashing down as long traders liquidated their positions inan effort to avoid margin calls on their positions. Includingyesterday’s margin hike, the exchange has raised margins on fivedifferent occasions in the past three weeks, resulting in anincrease for its customers from $5,670 (on Nov. 17) to $13,500.

By the end of the month, Chevron Canada Resources Ltd. expectsonly two wells drilled in the Northwest Territories to be producingabout 120 MMcf/d of gas. That is welcome news to a market indesperate need of new supply sources, particularly in westernCanada.

Gulf Canada Resources Ltd. has been a very busy company thisOctober, and its only just beginning. After announcing it plannedto acquire Crestar Energy two weeks ago, the company yesterday saidit has mailed its formal purchase offer to the shareholders ofCrestar, and in unrelated news, the company has sold its remaining50% interest in Gulf Midstream Services (GMS) located in westernCanada to Keyspan Corp.

Sempra Energy’s subsidiary Sempra Atlantic Gas is taking anotherstep towards becoming the only game in town for gas distributionin Nova Scotia as it prepares for the official ground-breakingceremony for the construction of the distribution system on Oct.27. The ceremony will take place in Dartmouth, NS.

El Paso Energy and Coastal Corp. announced plans yesterday torelocate more than 1,200 employees and retain only satelliteoffices at the El Paso Natural Gas headquarters in El Paso, TX, andthe ANR Pipeline headquarters in Detroit, MI, once their merger isapproved by the FTC, which is expected sometime in the fourthquarter. No final decision on staff reductions has been made, an ElPaso spokeswoman said.

Contango Oil & Gas Co. may be small — it only had threeemployees two months ago — but no one can say the Houston companydoesn’t have big plans.