Rocky

There’s little doubt that pipeline capacity between the RockyMountain region and the Midcontinent is about to experience asignificant upgrade. In all, three large projects have surfaced,including one formally announced this week by Colorado InterstateGas (CIG).

Pipeline competition in the Rockies is heating up with a newpipeline project launched last week by Williams and changes to aplanned extension announced by rival Trailblazer Pipeline.

Denver’s Tom Brown Inc. paid $16.2 million for an estimated 22Bcf of gas equivalent in reserves, with current net dailyproduction of 8 MMcf of equivalent gas in the Rocky Mountainregion’s Pavillion field. The transaction by the independent energycompany increases its working interest in the Pavillion to 90%, upfrom a previous 50% interest.

Developers of what at one time was California’s first merchantpower plant proposal are gearing up for more concentrated effortsto develop natural gas deals and power marketing efforts, assumingthey get final federal government environmental okays for their$350 million, 700 MW High Desert generation plant by mid-summer.Although delayed more than two years, the project last week (May 3)gained its long-sought state approval for the plant from theCalifornia Energy Commission (CEC).

Rocky Mountains ski resort operators were starting to breathe alittle easier Tuesday. After many had missed traditional openingdates of Thanksgiving Day weekend or earlier, they welcomed asnowstorm that either was arriving or on its way. For much the samereason, Rockies/Pacific Northwest and Southwest points constitutedthe only region seeing meaningful price gains on either side of anickel Tuesday. The rest of the cash market was a sea of flatnessthat, unlike Monday, leaned slightly to the downside instead of theupside.

Cross Timbers Oil Co. killed two birds with one stone recentlyas it sold $63.5 million of non-core assets in various RockyMountain and Midwest areas, then used the proceeds from the sale tobuy Lehman Brothers Holding’s 50% in Spring Holdings Co. The restof the proceeds from the sale were used to pay down debt, thecompany said when it revealed both transactions yesterday. CrossTimbers now owns 100% of Spring Holding Co.

Natural Gas Intelligence the weekly gas market newsletterpublished : August 16, 1999

CMS Energy Corp. went on a shopping spree yesterday, taking amajor stake in one of the Rocky Mountain region’s hottest newproducing areas, the Powder River Basin, and added to its growingMidcontinent midstream asset base with the purchase of Heritage GasServices, L.L.C.

Over the next decade as the Rocky Mountain is saved byincreasing pipeline transportation, the trend of reserve growth inrecent years will finally pay off in dramatic production increases,Fred Julander, past chairman of the Colorado Oil & Gas Assoc.told the group’s annual meeting.