Picking

Picking up from where she left off last year, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) said she plans to introduce legislation next week to bolster the authority of federal regulators to detect and penalize companies that defraud and manipulate energy markets.

Natural gas production appears to have fallen slightly in the second quarter — dropping more than 8% from the same period a year ago, according to Lehman Brothers analyst Thomas Driscoll. A report issued Friday,on the quarterly results of 24 producers that account for 28% of the gas supplies in the Lower 48 has so far found a sequential decline from the first quarter of 0.6%, with gas volumes by the 24 totaling 11,391 MMcf/d.

Natural gas production appears to have fallen slightly in the second quarter — dropping more than 8% from the same period a year ago, according to Lehman Brothers analyst Thomas Driscoll. A report issued Friday,on the quarterly results of 24 producers that account for 28% of the gas supplies in the Lower 48 has so far found a sequential decline from the first quarter of 0.6%, with gas volumes by the 24 totaling 11,391 MMcf/d.

EOG Resources Canada Inc. is picking up Fox Energy Corp., a junior oil and gas company with assets in Western Canada. EOG will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Calgary-based company, paying C$0.46 in cash for each Fox common share. EOG’s offer is an 18% premium to the closing price of Fox on Dec. 21, 2001, when Fox closed at C$0.39 after opening at C$0.42. This year, Fox has drilled seven wells in its core assets, with a 71% success rate.

An El Paso Corp. subsidiary, El Paso Oil & Gas Canada Acquisition Inc., has completed the acquisition of Canadian independent Velvet Exploration Ltd., picking up approximately 41.9 million common shares, which equates to 96.7% of Velvet shares outstanding, with its offer of C$8.15 per share. The offer closed at the end of July. Cost of the acquisition, including US$52 million in debt, is estimated at about US$280 million.

Consolidation in the energy industry in North America is expected to accelerate in the second half of 2001, particularly among independents oil and gas producers, according to the energy mergers and acquisitions team at PricewaterhouseCoopers. But acquirers run the risk of overpaying at what may be the high end of the pricing cycle.

Consolidation in the energy industry in North America is expected to accelerate in the second half of 2001, particularly among independents, according to the energy mergers and acquisitions team at PricewaterhouseCoopers. But acquirers run the risk of overpaying at what may be the high end of the pricing cycle.

UtiliCorp United said yesterday it would be picking up TransAltaCorp.’s Alberta-based electricity distribution and retail assetsfor $450 million in a deal intended to aid its internationalexpansion. The assets serve 350,000 customers with about 54,000miles of low-voltage distribution lines, and a 24-hour customercall center in Calgary.

Green Mountain Energy has completed its largest-ever energyaggregation contract – picking up more than 400,000 Ohioelectricity customers in a six-year agreement with Northeast OhioPublic Energy Council (NOPEC), a public electricity buying group.Green Mountain will provide natural gas and renewable wind andsolar energy to households in eight Ohio counties.