Releases

Starting 2001 with a rush of activity, Burlington Resources (BR)announced that it has entered into separate agreements totalingapproximately $385 million with Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd.and ATCO Gas for properties in the Western Canadian SedimentaryBasin with combined net proved and net probable reserves of 497Bcfe. The company also reported that it raised its net income from$1 million for the full year 1999, to $675 million for the fullyear 2000.

President Clinton has ordered the release of an additional $300million in funds to help low-income households cope with risingheating bills this winter, and announced four steps to tackle theenergy shortages and high prices in California, Washington andOregon.

Tennessee Gas Pipeline contends its tariff limitation onupstream capacity releases “neither frustrates nor hinders” thedrive towards competition in the retail natural gas market inMassachusetts, as a small LDC has claimed.

OGE Energy’s subsidiary Enogex, has completed the sale ofseveral non-core assets in Utah and in Oklahoma. The assets wereconsidered non-core by the company after it acquired Transok LLCfor $701 million in July 1999 (see Daily GPI, July 2, 1999).

OGE Energy’s subsidiary Enogex, has completed the sale of several non-core assets in Utah and in Oklahoma. The assets were considered non-core by the company after it completed its acquisition of Transok LLC for $701 million in July 1999 (see NGI, May 24, 1999).

The New York Mercantile Exchange’s (Nymex) natural gas pitprobably will be a lot more active and may be more efficient onWednesdays, starting March 1. The exchange along with several majormarket players have convinced the American Gas Association to moveup by two hours the release of its influential gas storage report.

A comprehensive report on gas unbundling released by the U.S.General Accounting Office found that as of July 31 of this yearonly about 3.9% of the of the residential gas customers eligible tobuy gas from suppliers other than their regulated gas utility weredoing so. Roughly 553,000 residential gas users behind thecitygates of 43 gas utilities in 16 states were participating incustomer choice programs. Commercial participation levels were notavailable. The report, titled Energy Deregulation: Status ofNatural Gas Customer Choice Programs, was requested by Sens. JeffBingaman (D-NM) and Dale L. Bumpers (D-AK).

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.

In preparation for a major workshop on capacity auctions, FERCon Friday issued a staff paper that provides an overview of thesubject – the benefits of auctions, factors to be considered whendesigning auctions, the different types of auctions, the use ofauctions in the pipeline industry today and a glossary of auctionterms.