Petroleum

Houston’s Apache Corp. remains in an acquiring mood, agreeing yesterday to buy Occidental Petroleum Corp.’s offshore oil and gas interests in the Gulf of Mexico for $385 million. The deal calls for Apache to pay Occidental $341 million for the properties this year, then pay $11 million a year for the next four years. Closing is expected by mid-August.

Ultra Petroleum commenced in-fill drilling last week in theJonah Field, located in the Green River Basin of Wyoming. It gotthe go-ahead to start drilling on June 8 when the Bureau of LandManagement released an order for 22 new well locations, whichshould keep Ultra busy through 2001.

Ultra Petroleum commenced in-fill drilling this week in theJonah Field, located in the Green River Basin of Wyoming. It gotthe go-ahead to start drilling on June 8 when the Bureau of LandManagement released an order for 22 new well locations, whichshould keep Ultra busy through 2001.

PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd.’s newest venture, a web page withinits Internet site dedicated to leasing and farming out some of itsundeveloped oil and natural gas rights in Western Canada, waslaunched last week with its first Call for Bids centered on fourblocks on land that cover 69,000 acres in Alberta.

PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd.’s newest venture, a web page withinits Internet site dedicated to leasing and farming out some of itsundeveloped oil and natural gas rights in Western Canada, launchedthis week with its first Call for Bids centered on four blocks onland that cover 69,000 acres in Alberta.

Duke Energy Field Services (DEFS), a wholly owned subsidiary ofDuke Energy Corp. and Phillips Petroleum Co., announced thepostponement of an initial public offering of common shares onFriday because of “volatile market conditions.” The company saidshares will be offered to the public when stock market conditionsare more favorable. In the meantime, DEFS will continue to be owned69.7% by Duke Energy and 30.3% by Phillips.

Duke Energy Field Services (DEFS), a wholly owned subsidiary ofDuke Energy Corp. and Phillips Petroleum Co., announced thepostponement of an initial public offering of common shares onFriday because of volatile stock market conditions. The companysaid shares will be offered to the public when market conditionsare more favorable. In the meantime, DEFS will continue to be owned69.7% by Duke Energy and 30.3% by Phillips.

The proposed merger of Anadarko Petroleum and Union PacificResources moved forward yesterday when the U.S. Federal TradeCommission (FTC) granted early termination of the statutory waitingperiod required under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Anti-Trust ImprovementsAct. Completion of the merger still is subject to the approval ofthe shareholders of both companies and satisfaction of othercustomary conditions. Under the agreement, which was unanimouslyapproved by each company’s board of directors, UPR shareholderswill receive 0.455 Anadarko common shares for each UPR common sharethey own. The offer is worth about $5.6 billion. Anadarko will alsotake on $2.6 billion in long-term debt from UPR. Closing isexpected in July. UPR will become a wholly-owned subsidiary ofHouston-based Anadarko. The purchase more than doubles Anadarko’sNorth American gas reserves from 2.5 Tcf to 5.8 Tcf. The increasemoves the company from the 13th largest company in terms of NorthAmerican gas reserves to fifth. The increase of production is evenmore pronounced, as Anadarko will go from 170 Bcf/year (20th place)by itself to 634 Bcf/year (sixth place).

Anadarko Petroleum said a field extension well in the BossierSand Play in East Texas is flowing at 51.5 MMcf/d at 4,500 psiflowing casing pressure. Blair A-3 well began flowing April 28. Thecompany’s production from the Bossier Play has increased to morethan 195 MMcf/d (gross). Anadarko is making modifications to itsDew Gathering System to accommodate the production increase. Thewell in the Dew Field,Freestone County, reached total depth of12,885 feet on April 13. The company has an 82.5% working interestin the well with El Paso Production owning the remaining 17.5%.Anadarko has 21 rigs in operation throughout its East Texas BossierPlay.