Sales

Amerada Hess Corp. on Monday sold 26 of its Gulf of Mexico shelf properties to Anadarko Petroleum Corp., transferred ownership of North Sea properties to EnCana Corp. and announced the lay off of about 30% of its workforce in a shakeup to reduce costs and improve its bottom line.

Independent oil and gas exploration and production companies (E&Ps) still face increasing challenges to reinvest “substantial” capital every year as they seek new reserves to replace current production, according to Moody’s Investors Service. However, analysts because technical and geological risks remain high in mature basins and the deepwater, analysts expect more consolidation, especially among independents.

Facing potential civil action by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for allegedly improper accounting practices, Nicor Energy continued to sell off its customer contracts last week. The company, which is a partnership between Nicor Inc and Dynegy sold energy supply contracts covering about 8,000 commercial and industrial gas and electric customers in three midwestern states to Constellation Energy Group for an undisclosed sum.

Combination utility NorthWestern Energy signed natural gas supply, management and distribution delivery contracts with two new ethanol plants being developed in eastern South Dakota.

Combination utility NorthWestern Energy signed natural gas supply, management and distribution delivery contracts with two new ethanol plants being developed in eastern South Dakota.

Dynegy Inc. hopes to redeem itself with a conference call Tuesday to discuss its latest Securities and Exchange Commission filings, which include Form 10-Q on third quarter earnings, as well as Form 8-K, an unaudited restatement of financials from January 1999 through December 2001.

EOG Resources Inc. was hit with declining sales and losses in its hedging program during the third quarter, but the natural gas heavyweight still managed to surpass Wall Street earnings estimates for the period. The Houston-based independent expects the company’s results to jump 6-7% next year, driven by higher natural gas prices and strong production from its growing Trinidad operations.

EOG Resources Inc. was hit with declining sales and losses in its hedging program during the third quarter, but the natural gas heavyweight still managed to surpass Wall Street earnings estimates for the period. The Houston-based independent expects the company’s results to jump 6-7% next year, driven by higher natural gas prices and strong production from its growing Trinidad operations.

Magnum Hunter Resources said it plans to sell a total of $100 million in assets this year in order to drop its debt-to-capitalization ratio to 50% from about 65% currently. The company has closed over $10 million of non-core oil and gas assets to date, is in the process of closing another $50 million, and has plans to sell an additional $40 million of non-strategic assets by the year’s end.