Resource

A multi-year alliance will give Constellation Power Source the right to manage the Texas power resource needs for TNP Enterprises Inc.’s Texas-New Mexico Power Co. (TNMP) and First Choice Power under an agreement announced Wednesday. The Constellation Energy Group unit will manage about 1,100 MW under an agreement made through a competitive selection process begun by TNP last October. No financial details were disclosed.

Enerplus Resources Fund, headquartered in Vancouver, paid C$104million for 100% of the outstanding shares of an undisclosedprivate Canadian pension resource corporation that owns producingoil and natural gas properties in Western Canada. The propertiesproduced approximately 2,650 boe/d in a three-month period endingSept. 30. The production included 1,740 bbl/d of crude oil andnatural gas liquids and 9,100 Mcf/d. Average third quarterproduction represents a 22% increase over Enerplus’ third quarteraverage of 12,014 boe/d. Total established reserves are 12,248 Mbblof crude oil and natural gas liquids and 70.7 Bcf, for a total of19,312 Mboe. The deal was funded through a combination of cash fromexisting credit facilities and the assumption of debt, whichtotaled 75% of the purchase price. The rest was financed withEnerplus Trust Units.

IntercontinentalExchange, founded earlier this year by leadingU.S. and European financial institutions and energy and naturalresource firms, has chosen IXnet, a Global Crossing, Ltd. company,to fully manage its global transaction network. IXnet is thedeveloper of an intelligent, high-performance global Extranetdesigned principally for the financial services community.IntercontinentalExchange is scheduled to begin trading preciousmetals in August, with OTC energy products, including natural gas,slated for Q4. The exchange’s partners include American ElectricPower, Aquila Energy, BP Amoco, Deutsche Bank AG, Duke Energy, ElPaso Energy, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, ReliantEnergy, Royal Dutch/Shell Group, SG Investment Banking, SouthernCompany Energy Marketing, Totalfina Elf, and Continental PowerExchange

In outlining his company’s strategy for this year, Union PacificResource’s CEO George Lindahl III said it will continue to focus ononshore North America plays. The company, he said, has budgeted$750 million for capital spending in 2000, including $100 millionfor property purchases. This budget should enable UPR to stabilizeproduction volumes by the middle of the year and increase volumesin the second half, while replacing over 100 percent of producedreserves. UPR also intends to continue the trend of increaseddrilling activity. Twenty-five rigs are now running in the U.S.,compared to 11 at this time last year and 17 at the end of 1999.Drilling in Canada has also picked up, with 11 rigs running today,compared to 13 in March of 1999 and four at year-end. Lindahlfocused on three specific areas that will be vital for thecompany’s growth: the Frontier play in southeast Wyoming’s GreenRiver Basin, South Louisiana’s Etouffee discovery and the Kluawells in British Columbia. “Our exploration activity in Wyoming,south Louisiana and British Columbia shows that we are making goodon our strategy, which is to find and produce natural gasopportunities onshore North America,” Lindahl said. “Our rig countshould continue to increase during the year. Development drillingis one of our strengths and we are hard at it onshore NorthAmerica, in the Gulf of Mexico and in Latin America..We believethat we are off to a good start to delivering value in 2000.”

Meridian Resource Corp. announced last week its intentions tosell certain non-strategic oil and gas properties located in SouthLouisiana, Southeast Texas and offshore Louisiana.

SRS (Strategic Resource Solutions Corp.), a subsidiary ofCarolina Power & Light has announced the launch of a newInternet-based system that helps clients improve facility controland reduce operating costs. SiteNetT Command Center, the latestweb-based solution from SRS, enables clients to integrate multiplesites for centralized energy and facility management. Based onInternet and Intranet standards, SiteNet Command Center integratesmultiple facility systems through a Single Window(SM) forcentralized navigation, monitoring and control of facility andenergy information. Using a standard web browser, clients havereal-time access to their facility solutions, ranging from buildingcontrol systems to energy, maintenance and asset managementsystems. SiteNet Command Center is an integrated tool formonitoring and managing maintenance, operations and energy costs,as well as preparing for energy negotiations in a deregulatedutility market.

energyOn.com, an e-commerce company offering a consumer resourceWeb site which lets customers in deregulated gas and electricmarkets compare service offers, has expanded its service territoryto include New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The companyalready provided information on markets in Ohio, and expects to addmany more states in the near future. Information on gas andelectric supplier choices in California will be launched later thismonth, the company said.

The Meridian Resource Corp. said flames still are shooting 150feet in the air from its Thibodaux No. 2 well near Amelia, LA, sixdays after the well was struck by lightening. The well wasscheduled to begin production in July with about 18 MMcf/d of gasand 1,800 b/d of condensate.

With the amount of capital driving today’s energy companies,Statoil Energy recently announced it is searching for a partner tobolster its resource base. A spokesman for the Virginia-basedenergy marketer said the process is moving quickly and the companyhopes to find a partner by the end of the year.