Purchased

When Williams Cos. purchased Barrett Resources Corp. and its legacy assets in the Piceance Basin of the Rocky Mountains in 2001, management probably did not realize how fortuitous a move it would be.

Pennsylvania-based natural gas and electric utility UGI Utilities Inc. has purchased the gas utility assets of PG Energy from Southern Union Co. for $580 million. The assets, which will be renamed UGI Penn Natural Gas Inc., will add nearly 158,000 customers to its gas operations. The gas division had been serving 307,000 customers in 14 Pennsylvania counties. The sale is expected to be accretive to earnings in the first full fiscal year of ownership, according to UGI Corp. Chairman Lon R. Greenberg. Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP provided legal services to UGI in connection with the acquisition. Through its subsidiaries, UGI Corp. owns 44% of AmeriGas Partners LP, the nation’s largest retail propane marketer, and it owns Antargaz, one of the largest liquefied petroleum gas distributors in France.

Ameresco Inc. and Northeast Utilities (NU) announced Wednesday that Ameresco has purchased Select Energy Services Inc., a wholly-owned energy services subsidiary in NU’s competitive business group.

Black Hills Corp. said Thursday it purchased 40 Bcf of Piceance Basin gas reserves from Koch Exploration for an undisclosed sum. The company said the deal nearly doubles its acreage position in the Piceance of western Colorado, which has become one of the Rocky Mountain region’s hottest drilling areas and a major supply source for proposed gas pipeline expansions out of the region.

Florida Power & Light Co. (FP&L) said that its West County Energy Center proposal is the best and most cost-effective option to provide additional electricity for FP&L customers beginning in 2009. Under FP&L’s proposal, a new power plant, featuring two natural gas-fired units of approximately 1,200 MW each, would be built on a 220-acre site in western Palm Beach County.

Maryland LDC Elkton Gas’ latest rate filing, which took effect Feb. 1, will reduce purchased gas costs by 8%, saving average consumers a projected $17 in February.

As natural gas prices continue to fall due to mild weather this winter, AGL Resources subsidiary Virginia Natural Gas (VNG) on Thursday announced a 13% reduction in the company’s purchased gas costs (PGC), which will save the average residential customer a total of $44 in February and March.

PRB Gas Transportation Inc. has purchased Storm Cat Energy Corp.’s (SCU) gathering assets in Campbell County, WY, near Recluse for $1 million. PRB will provide gathering and compression for Storm Cat’s Recluse-area development properties, which encompass 6,600 gross acres. Storm Cat estimates that these properties currently produce about 3 MMcf/d with production expected to increase to 7 MMcf/d in 2006. Both companies are based in Denver. “This presents an excellent opportunity for PRB to grow its gathering business with SCU’s production, third party producers and from production generated by our own drilling operations,” said PRB CEO Robert Wright. “As this purchase is effective Jan. 1, 2006, the agreements with SCI will have an immediate positive impact on our operating results. We began to sell natural gas and provide management services during the latter part of 2005. We expect that these three new revenue streams will have a very positive impact on our financial results as compared to prior periods.”

Adding to its natural gas exploration acreage, Bakersfield, CA-based Berry Petroleum Co. said Friday that it has purchased a 50% working interest in approximately 70,000 gross (60,000 net) undeveloped acres in Colorado’s Phillips and Sedgwick counties from Chandler Energy LLC.