Resounding

Oil and natural gas producers were dealt a major, unexpected blow last Thursday when the Republican-controlled House voted by an overwhelming majority to block exploration off the coast of Florida and to exclude new drilling in millions of acres of national monuments.

Oil and natural gas producers were dealt a major, unexpected blow last Thursday when the Republican-controlled House voted by an overwhelming majority to block exploration off the coast of Florida and to exclude new drilling in millions of acres of national monuments.

Columbia shareholders have sent a “resounding message” to theColumbia board to sit down and negotiate a merger deal withNiSource. More than 60% (49,638,497) of CG common shares had beentendered in response to NiSource’s $68/share offer ($5.7 billion)as of last Friday and NiSource extended the deadline of the tenderoffer to Oct. 15.

Amoco Production Co. of Houston and a large group of royalty owners won a resounding victory at the U.S. Supreme Court last week over the Southern Ute Indian Tribe. The 7-to-1 decision gives Amoco and the royalty owners title to an estimated $200 million worth of coal-bed methane (CBM) gas on the tribe’s reservation in southwestern Colorado and is seen as good news for coal-bed methane development.