Presence

Demand for creditworthy counterparties and experienced risk management services, has prompted Deutsche Bank AG and Wachovia Corp. to enter the U.S. natural gas trading and risk management business. Deutsche Bank has hired a former El Paso Merchant Energy trading official and several additional gas trading professionals to anchor its operation.

Increasing its natural gas gathering and processing footprint in the rapidly growing Fort Worth Basin, Houston-based Enbridge Energy Partners LP (EEP) signed a $247 million purchase agreement with Cantera Resources Inc., an affiliate of Morgan Stanley Capital Partners, for about 2,000 miles of gathering lines and five active processing facilities in North Texas.

Continuing its January buying spree, Constellation Energy Group (CEG) on Wednesday picked up more Canadian customers with the purchase of the Alberta-based electricity division of Dynegy Canada Inc. The division will become part of Constellation NewEnergy, the company’s energy supplier. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Dynegy Inc.’s ability to market natural gas creatively will help ChevronTexaco Corp. grow its gas presence in U.S. markets, as the major turns its long-term plan toward producing and delivering its substantial reserves, executives said Wednesday. As a 26.5% stakeholder in the Houston-based energy merchant, ChevronTexaco management, including Chairman Dave O’Reilly, made clear that Dynegy is its strategic marketing partner now and into the future.

British gas company Centrica Plc has followed through on its previously announced deal to buy NewPower Holdings Inc., greatly expanding its presence in retail energy markets in North America. Centrica intends to buy all of NewPower’s outstanding shares for $1.05 per share in cash (subject to certain conditions), or a total of $130 million (see Daily GPI, Feb. 21). The acquisition is expected to include 650,000 U.S. residential and small business customers in states including Georgia, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.

British gas company Centrica Plc has followed through on its previously announced deal to buy NewPower Holdings Inc., greatly expanding its presence in retail energy markets in North America. Centrica intends to buy all of NewPower’s outstanding shares for $1.05 per share in cash (subject to certain conditions), or a total of $130 million (see Daily GPI, Feb. 21 ). The acquisition is expected to include 650,000 U.S. residential and small business customers in states including Georgia, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.

With one eye transfixed on this week’s expiration of March options and futures, natural gas traders played it cool Friday as they lifted the market off its early lows to post the week’s fourth straight session described by a higher high and higher low on the daily chart. The March contract closed at $2.449, up 2.4 cents for the session and 24.3 cents for the week. As it had been all week, volume in the gas pit at Nymex was heavy Friday, with an estimated 96,779 contracts changing hands.

In an effort to expand its service presence in the oil and natural gas industry, Atlanta-based GE Power Systems said Wednesday that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire PII Group Ltd., formerly Pipeline Integrity International, from HgCapital. United Kingdom-based PII offers global pipeline in-line inspections and integrity management services for the oil and gas industry. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Caminus Corp. expects to boost its revenues by 40% next year and gain a significantly larger presence in the energy software business with the purchase of Altra Energy Technologies’ software operations. Caminus bought Altra’s software business with 1.975 million shares of common stock (currently valued at about $32 million) and $30 million in cash.