Reserves

Houston-based Marathon Oil Corp., the Equatorial Guinea government and the national oil company of Equatorial Guinea, Compania Nacional de Petroleos de Guinea Ecuatorial (GEPetrol), said last Tuesday they have finalized all the agreements for the companies’ Equatorial Guinea liquefied natural gas (LNG) project that would target deliveries to Lake Charles, LA.

Three North American-focused independents — Magnum Hunter Resources Inc., Ultra Petroleum and Nuevo Energy Co. — all saw their fourth quarter 2003 production volumes rise along with earnings. The production gains, they said, set the stage for even stronger results by the end of this year.

Houston-based Syntroleum Corp. has signed a joint development agreement with Sovereign Oil and Gas Co., based in Tulsa, to acquire and develop stranded natural gas fields worldwide using Syntroleum’s gas-to-liquids (GTL) synthetic fuels technology.

Based on an independent review of its oil and gas reserves, El Paso reported last week that it expects to make a “material negative revision” to its proved reserve estimates. The Houston-based company, which expects to announce the new figures later this month, made the statement in a Securities and Exchange Commission Form 8-K filing.

Based on an independent review of its oil and gas reserves, El Paso reported on Monday that it expects to make a “material negative revision” to its proved reserve estimates. The Houston-based company, which expects to announce the new figures in mid-February, made the statement in a Securities and Exchange Commission Form 8-K filing.

Vintage Petroleum is paying $52.5 million for oil and gas producing properties and gathering and processing assets mainly in Duchesne and Uintah counties, UT, from El Paso Corp.

Riverton, WY-based U.S. Energy Corp. (USE) and its majority-owned subsidiary, Crested Corp., said last week that their Rocky Mountain Gas Inc. (RMG) subsidiary has entered into an agreement to acquire coalbed methane (CBM) properties in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming from a undisclosed party for a combination of cash and equity. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Riverton, WY-based U.S. Energy Corp. (USE) and its majority-owned subsidiary, Crested Corp., reported Tuesday that their Rocky Mountain Gas Inc. (RMG) subsidiary has entered into an agreement to acquire coalbed methane (CBM) properties from a non-disclosed party in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming for a combination of cash and equity. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

North America’s apparent dwindling natural gas reserves pose a long-term challenge, but continued price volatility, contractual uncertainty and growing political pressure for regulators to “do something” also have to be addressed to restore confidence in the marketplace, an industry panel concluded Thursday.