Releases

Expected to replace the current program expiring at the end of June, Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton said last week that the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) is proposing to schedule 20 lease sales in eight outer continental shelf (OCS) planning areas in the Gulf of Mexico and offshore Alaska as part of a new five-year leasing program. The proposed sale areas are in the Gulf of Mexico’s western, central and parts of the eastern planning areas, as well as Alaska’s Beaufort Sea, Norton Basin, Cook Inlet/Shelikof Strait and the Chukchi Sea/Hope Basin.

Expected to replace the current program expiring at the end of June, Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton said Monday that the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) is proposing to schedule 20 lease sales in eight outer continental shelf (OCS) planning areas in the Gulf of Mexico and offshore Alaska as part of a new five-year leasing program. The proposed sale areas are in the Gulf of Mexico’s western, central and parts of the eastern planning areas, as well as Alaska’s Beaufort Sea, Norton Basin, Cook Inlet/Shelikof Strait and the Chukchi Sea/Hope Basin.

Despite a 74% drop in net income in the fourth quarter, Calgary-based PanCanadian Energy Corp. said it had the strongest annual financial results in its history because of higher natural gas prices earlier in the year, increased gas production and favorable price hedges.

Projections forward of the lower energy prices that already socked fourth quarter earnings, plus the “Enron effect” on stockholders’ confidence, slammed merchant energy companies again last week, as many that were already in the basement, hit new lows on Wednesday before leveling off and rising slightly on Thursday and Friday. The latest stock quotes continued the downward trend for the year, which has seen some merchant energy stocks go from the $50 to $60 range to $6 to $15. Results and projections were suffering from a re-evaluation of power production projects in the current energy price environment.

In joint releases Friday morning, Canadian heavyweights PanCanadian Energy Corp. and Alberta Energy Co.(AEC) — the fourth and fifth largest energy companies in the country — announced they are talking about a possible merger. If completed, the company would become one of the largest natural gas producers in North America. Based on Thursday’s closing on the Toronto Stock Exchange, the companies had a market value of C$19.4 billion ($12.1 billion).

In joint releases Friday morning, Canadian heavyweights PanCanadian Energy Corp. and Alberta Energy Co.(AEC) — the fourth and fifth largest energy companies in the country — announced they are talking about a possible merger. If completed, the company would become one of the largest natural gas producers in North America. Based on Thursday’s closing on The Toronto Stock Exchange, the companies had a market value of C$19.4 billion ($12.1 billion).

Citing the growing uncertainty surrounding future development of energy projects in the wake of Sept. 11 and the Enron debacle, California’s neophyte state power authority released the latest draft of its emerging plan to use a wave of new joint venture renewable energy projects over the next five years to build a power generation reserve margin in the 15-20% range. The new agency’s working draft identifies a number of “gaps” in the state’s electricity market that it suggests the new authority can attempt to help fill.

In only six months since going live with its full spectrum of over-the-counter (OTC) products, Online trading platform IntercontinentalExchange (ICE), has made a significant impact on the energy and metals markets. The company said over 42,000 trades have been made on ICE since it commenced trading with a combined notional value of $70 billion. Trading volumes on ICE have been growing exponentially with average daily volume in March up 33% from February.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. reported yesterday that its provedreserves increased by 37% over a year ago to 1,655 Bcfe, with areserve replacement rate of 435% and reserve replacement costs of$1.04 per Mcfe. The company also reported the recent completion ofCarl No. 1-H, the company’s second consecutive important Georgetownexploratory success in Washington County, TX.