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PennzEnergy Co. – recently formed when Pennzoil Products Groupwas spun off to merge with Quaker State – is in the process ofreactivating its onshore U.S. operations and tip-toeing deeper intothe Gulf of Mexico. PennzEnergy operations are focused on threeareas: domestic onshore, domestic offshore, and international.Operations are in the in East and West Texas, on and offshore Gulfof Mexico, and in Egypt, Azerbaijan, and Venezuela.

Walter Higgins, CEO of AGL Resources Inc., stood and faced themusic recently at the annual shareholders meeting in Atlanta asstock owners voiced their opinions concerning AGL Resources’subsidiary Atlanta Gas Light’s (AGL) over-billing controversy. TheGeorgia Public Service Commission and AGL settled the issue earlierthis month, with AGL agreeing to alter its billing methods andrefund $14.5 million to customers. The incident enraged manypeople, including one shareholder who demanded Higgins’resignation.

The recently joined Altra Energy Technologies and QuickTrade LLCposted record gas trading volumes Jan. 28 when their combinedtrading systems reached 30 Bcf in deals. Previous record volumesfor the stand-alone companies when combined were less than 30 Bcf,said Altra Chairman Rusty Braziel

Expiration day at Nymex has been a bull-trader’s worst nightmarerecently because the last several contracts have been ushered offthe board amid a tempest of late selling activity. Septemberslipped 9 cents on its last trading day to cap off a 27.5 centprice decline for the week. Likewise, October and Novemberplummeted 15 cents and 13.6 cents to settle to either side of $2.00at final settlement. And although December’s fate is far fromsealed, Monday’s 6.6-cent losses and $2.097 penultimate settlementprompted traders to wonder if the market might be in for anotherround of expiration-day losses today.

The Gas Research Institute released its 1999 Data Book, whichcontains the analytical output from the recently released 1999Edition of the GRI Baseline Projection of U.S. Energy Supply andDemand to 2015. The Baseline Projection, released in August,describes a highly competitive, low-price energy future, withnatural gas expanding its share of the nation’s total energy marketfrom 24 percent in 1997 to 28 percent in 2015.

Oklahoma Natural Gas (ONG) is digesting the Oklahoma CorporationCommission’s (OCC) recently released upstream unbundling order andfinding at least a few things it does not like. “Generally, basedon what we’ve seen in the order thus far, there is concern on thepart of management that the order as it exists now could curtailthe ability of our affiliate ONEOK Gas Transportation Co. (OGT) tocompete effectively in the marketplace,” said spokesman Don Sherry.”Our management’s considering where we go from here. Presumably theorder was described as an interim order. Presumably, there may beadditional options available to us at the Oklahoma CorporationCommission. Presumably there are legal options as well, but none ofthat has been decided at this moment.”

Union Pacific Resources Group announced details of itsparticipation in four successful wells recently completed on itsLand Grant acreage. UPR’s net production from the wells is about 28MMcf/d of gas and 500 barrels of oil/d. The most prolific well, theChamplin 457 A No. 5, is located in the Whitney Canyon field inUinta County, WY. The company owns a 33% net revenue interest inthe well which began producing at an initial rate of 60 MMcf/d.

Statistics recently released by the Oklahoma CorporationCommission (OCC) show gas production in the state last year reachedits lowest level since 1968. However, OCC Commissioner Bob Anthonysaid he sees no cause for alarm and expects little or no furthererosion in production this year forward.

Amoco’s Hugoton Jayhawk gas processing plant in Ulysses, KS,recently began operations with capability to process 450 MMcf/d andrecover up to 33,000 barrels of gas liquids per day. HugotonJayhawk currently is processing about 400 MMcf/d, of which 280MMcf/d is supplied by Amoco-operated wells.