Paid

It paid handsomely to live on the Canadian supply side of the natural gas market over the last heating season. In the chief gas-producing province, Alberta, the government disclosed spending of C$650 million (US$552 million) to shield residents against the worst effects of spiking prices and said it still had cash left over for other benefits.

XTO Energy Inc. said it paid Total E&P USA, Inc. about $300 million for 120 Bcfe of reserves in the Sabine Uplift area of East Texas and the Maben Field of Mississippi.

Former Enron Corp. CFO Andrew Fastow claimed in court affidavits that cash payments made to him and his family by one of his former top lieutenants “were paid to us voluntarily and out of friendship, and therefore, were not taxable income.” The affidavits, taken months before he and his wife pleaded guilty to various crimes, may help Enron founder Kenneth Lay, former CEO Jeffrey Skilling and former Chief Accountant Richard Causey as they prepare to go to trial next month, a defense lawyer said.

The average U.S. price paid for electricity by large customers rose by 5.2% between April 2004 and April 2005, with the highest prices in New York, New Jersey and California, according to a national survey by NUS Consulting. The survey, which sampled monthly usage at 24 of the largest investor-owned utility companies in the country, said the average price of power for large customers was 7.95 cents/kWh in April, compared with 7.56 cents/kWh a year earlier.

South Dakota-based NorthWestern Corp. announced last Friday that it paid down a seven-year term loan by $25 million, reducing the debt instrument to $74.8 million and bringing the utility holding company’s overall debt-to-capitalization near 52%. The Chapter 11 reorganized company operating as NorthWestern Energy said it has reduced debt by $33 million so far this year, and expects to drop at least another $60 million by the end of the third quarter.

El Paso Corp. said Monday it paid $211 million for two Texas properties, including a private exploration and production company, that will add 124 Bcfe of proved reserves and 29 MMcfe/d of average net production. About 59% of the reserves are proved undeveloped.

Enterprise Products Partners LP has added two more El Paso Corp. properties to its portfolio with the purchase of its East Texas natural gas subsidiaries. Enterprise paid $74.5 million for the natural gas gathering system and natural gas cryogenic processing plant, and the acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive to cash flow in 2005. According to Enterprise, the East Texas plants, located in Polk County, TX, own an 80% equity interest in three gathering systems, which represent a combined 89 miles of two-inch to 12-inch pipeline system, and a 75% equity interest in the Indian Springs gas processing facility. The Indian Springs processing plant has capacity to process up to 120 MMcf/d. In addition, there is an idle 20 MMcf/d train available for restart to support an increase in gas volumes. The gas processed at the Indian Springs plant is sourced from the Polk County gas gathering systems, as well as the nearby Big Thicket gathering system. Big Thicket is a 240-mile pipeline system located in Tyler and Hardin counties that is owned and operated by Enterprise. Together, these gathering systems cover a significant portion of the prolific Woodbine, Wilcox and Yegua production areas in East Texas.

Mirant Americas Energy Marketing LP (Mirant Americas), a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Mirant Corp., paid $12.5 million to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) last week to settle charges of attempted gas market manipulation and false reporting to index publishers. Despite agreeing to the settlement, the company neither admitted nor denied the charges.

Mirant Americas Energy Marketing LP (Mirant Americas), a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Mirant Corp., paid $12.5 million to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Monday to settle charges of attempted gas market manipulation and false reporting to index publishers. In agreeing to the settlement, the company neither admitted nor denied the charges.