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Duke/Fluor Daniel has been awarded a contract by West GeorgiaGenerating Co. L.P., a subsidiary of Sonat Energy Services, toprovide engineering, procurement and construction services for a650 MW dual fuel, gas and distillate oil-fired power plant in UpsonCounty, GA. The power plant will be designed to use four PG7241(FA) gas turbines in simple-cycle operation. The $180 million powerplant, which will be built within the Thomaston Industrial Park inUpson County, is expected to be fully operational by June 1, 2000.A significant portion of the electricity from the plant will besold to Georgia Power under an existing power sales agreement.

Torch Energy Advisors Inc. and Advantage Energy Services Ltd.formed EnerStar Services to provide oil and gas operations andtechnical outsourcing services in North America. Bill Ploquet,former president of Advantage Energy Resources, has been named CEOof EnerStar.

Columbia Gas Transmission said it opened a data room to provideinformation on 545 miles of small-diameter gas gathering pipelines,called the CHEWP system, and the Holbrook Storage Field, which has1.5 Bcf of total capacity in northern West Virginia andsouthwestern Pennsylvania. Anyone interested in the assets shouldmake an appointment to visit the data room in Charleston, WVA, bycalling (304) 357-2282.

In an effort to capture the rewards and pass along savings madepossible by performance-based rates, NIPSCO Industries and its newaffiliate, Bay State Gas, are combining gas supply operations. Thetwo LDCs, which became sister companies when NIPSCO parent NIbought Bay State in February, expect to save as much as $1million/year through combined portfolio management, according toone source.

Several House lawmakers have endorsed legislation that isdesigned to provide “some real relief” to small oil and natural gasproducers that have been “so hard hit” by the historically lowcrude oil prices.

Two recently announced deals provide further proof thatindependent producers are finding it tough going in the current lowcommodity price environment. Houston-based independentRutherford-Moran Oil Corp. struck a deal with Chevron to allow itto continue activities in the Gulf of Thailand, and EEX announcedit is selling $150 million of securities to fund its deep-waterdevelopment program.

Williams completed its Cherokee expansion project, increasingcapacity on the Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line (Transco) system by87 MMDth/d to provide additional firm transportation capacity toserve markets in Georgia. The $68 million project consisted ofadding looping and compression.

Duke/Fluor Daniel said it has been awarded a turnkey contract byPanda Paris Power LP, to provide engineering, procurement,construction and start-up services for a proposed 1,000 MWgas-fired power plant in Paris, TX. “Power from the plant will bedistributed through TU Electric and will be sold to members of theElectric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the Southwest PowerPool (SPP) and other users,” said a spokesman for Dallas-basedPanda Energy, parent company of Panda Paris Power. Commercialoperation of the combined cycle power plant is scheduled for summer2000. Construction will begin next March.

Competition has changed the energy industry forever, spurringcompanies to use creativity to provide real choices for all energycustomers, according to Oliver G. Richard III, CEO of ColumbiaEnergy Group, at yesterday’s plenary session of the seventh annualNatural Gas Conference sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energyand the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.