Picks

After sifting through the numbers of the recent ReedHycalog Rig Census, analysts at Raymond James & Associates found some interesting new trends in the drilling industry, particularly the shift in domestic drilling to a larger land fleet, migration of the offshore rig fleet overseas and higher domestic rig utilizations — but still below the 2001 peak.

KeySpan LNG LLC, a unit of KeySpan Energy Development Corp., announced Friday it has purchased Duke Energy’s Algonquin liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility, which operates a 600,000-barrel storage and receiving terminal in Providence, RI, for an estimated $28 million.

A top Canadian agricultural concern, Cargill Ltd., reported last Wednesday that it closed a deal to buy Mirant Corp.’s Canadian natural gas aggregator services contracts and a major slice of its gas transportation and storage contracts. Terms of the sale, which was first announced in May, were not disclosed.

A top Canadian agricultural concern, Cargill Limited, reported Wednesday it closed a deal to buy Mirant Corp.’s Canadian natural gas aggregator services contracts and a major slice of its gas transportation and storage contracts. Terms of the sale, which was first announced in May, were not disclosed.

Retail markets and the energy service sector aren’t dead by a long shot, despite perceptions by many energy industry observers to the contrary, according to a couple of industry participants in the West. Although its year-end 2002 financial report is still a month away, San Diego-based Sempra Energy’s retail energy services company is expecting to announce a year of solid growth, according to Bob Dickerman, president of Sempra Energy Solutions, who is unabashedly bullish on the retail sector.

With the number of players and volumes of energy deals slumping badly, large national industrial and commercial customers have fewer creditworthy parties to help hedge their portfolios, but for some of the energy service sector players this spells opportunity. San Diego-based Sempra Energy’s energy services firm pulled about half of it revenues and even more of its margin from hedging and related commodity services for large end-users this year, according to the company. For traditional traders, it is a different story.

KeySpan LNG LLC, a unit of KeySpan Energy Development Corp., announced Friday it purchased Duke Energy’s Algonquin liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility, which operates a 600,000-barrel storage and receiving terminal in Providence, RI, for an estimated $28 million.

Houston-based Newfield Exploration Co. has pumped up its core South Texas natural gas assets and more important, moved into the deepwater of the Gulf of Mexico, with the acquisition of cross-town peer EEX Corp. The transaction is valued at $640 million, including debt, and has already been approved by both boards of directors. Newfield, already dominant along the Outer Continental Shelf, gained its first foothold in deeper water, picking up 68 lease blocks, most of which EEX was exploring with Shell Oil Co.

Calgary, AB-based Enbridge Inc. said Friday it closed on the acquisition of an additional 6.1% interest in the Alliance Pipeline from El Paso Corp, and will pick up another 1.1% interest in the pipeline from El Paso at the end of the first quarter of 2003.