Over

Just one week after the break-up of the KN/Sempra merger overpoor financials, KN Energy has started action on an intense assetdivestment strategy. The Colorado-based company sold $51 millionworth of various Gulf of Mexico (GOM) assets last week, includinginterests in HIOS, U-TOS and Stingray, to Leviathan Gas Pipelinewhich is controlled by El Paso Energy. The transaction closed June30.

Just one week after the break-up of the KN/Sempra merger overpoor financials, KN Energy has started action on an intense assetdivestment strategy. The Colorado-based company sold $51 millionworth of various Gulf of Mexico (GOM) assets last week, includinginterests in HIOS, U-TOS and Stingray, to Leviathan Gas Pipelinewhich is controlled by El Paso Energy. The transaction closed June30.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th District has reversed andremanded an order in which FERC asserted jurisdiction over two KNWattenberg Transmission laterals that provide connecting servicefrom Colorado Interstate Gas to two food-processing plants in FortMorgan, CO., thus bypassing the municipal gas provider.

In October AGL Resources will become the first gas utility in the U.S. to completely exit the gas merchant function, but its transformation is far from over, AGL CEO Walter Higgins said last week. Higgins expects his company to be snatched up like the first pie out of the oven, probably by some hungry electric firm eager to get its hands on a utility that has emerged from deregulation relatively well done.

Landowners and interstate pipelines actually agreed on somethinglast week – neither were particularly thrilled with some of theinitiatives proposed by FERC for carving out a greater role forlandowners in the certificate process. But the reasons for theirdissatisfaction were completely opposite.

In October AGL Resources will become the first gas utility inthe U.S. to completely exit the gas merchant function, but itstransformation is far from over, AGL CEO Walter Higgins saidyesterday. Higgins expects his company to be snatched up like thefirst pie out of the oven, probably by some hungry electric firmeager to get its hands on a utility that has emerged fromderegulation relatively well done.

The battle over who will get to build new pipeline capacity tothe prized Northeast gas market has reached a feverish pitch, withsponsors dreaming up ways to knock out their competitors’ projects.ANR Pipeline and National Fuel Gas Supply Corp., sponsors of theproposed Independence Pipeline, recently proposed a plan that couldwipe out a large part of Columbia Gas Transmission’s MillenniumPipeline project. And Texas Eastern Transmission (Tetco) has joinedthe ranks, devising a proposal that could obviate the need forIndependence altogether and part of an associated project.

Landowners and interstate pipelines actually agreed on somethingearlier this week — neither were particularly thrilled with someof the initiatives proposed by FERC for carving out a greater rolefor landowners in the certificate process. But the reasons fortheir dissatisfaction were completely disparate.

AES Corp., a world-wide power generation company, announced thatit has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire New EnergyVentures Inc. (NEV), an energy service firm for large commercialand industrial buyers, in a transaction valued at approximately $90million.