Analysts were not surprised by Monday’s announcement that DuPontintends to sell its stake in Conoco. In fact, some wondered whattook the company so long. “That’s something they’ve [talked about]for a long time and they’re finally acting on that,” said CarolFreedenthal of Houston-based Jofree Corp. “I guess they’ve just gotbetter places they can put their money than the oil and gasbusiness.”
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UPR Details Property Divestiture Plans
Union Pacific Resources Group announced additional details ofproducing properties it will sell to raise at least $600 million byyear-end. US and international properties make up nine bid packagesand will be made available in two phases. The first phase willinclude properties in the Gulf of Mexico, South Louisiana, SouthTexas and East Texas. Executive summaries for these packages willbe available by June 1 with closings anticipated by Oct. 1. Thesecond phase of the program will include properties in the RockyMountains, Argentina, Egypt and Australia. Executive summaries willbe available July 1 with closings anticipated by Oct. 30.
PG&E May Sell Australian Assets, Renew Focus on U.S.
PG&E Corp. has hired Credit Suisse First Boston (CS FirstBoston) of Melbourne, Australia, to evaluate various options forall of PG&E’s Australian assets, including a possible sale. Thecompany has made an about-face from aggressive investment inAustralia to continued expansion of its North American assets,particularly power generation in New England and pipeline andtrading operations in Texas. Over the past two years, PG&E haspurchased the 390-mile Queensland Gas Pipeline, running fromWalumbilla (near Roma) to Gladstone and Rockhampton, for US$138million, and planned huge expansion projects, including a proposedAU$30 million extension of the Queensland Pipeline and a AU$1billion, 994-mile gas pipeline project from the North West Shelf tothe South-West of the State. It also has built an activeQueensland-based energy trading business.
Futures Prices Fall, But Traders Look For Rebound
The April Nymex contract took a 5.1 cent hit to $2.241 onTuesday, as speculators continued to sell positions following thespot month’s inability to break above the $2.355 resistance levelon Monday, a source told GPI. Total volume was estimated at 41,490contracts.
EEX Sells Texas, N. Louisiana Properties
EEX Corp. agreed to sell nearly all of its properties in EastTexas and North Louisiana, containing 250 Bcfe of proved naturalgas reserves, to Cross Timbers Oil Co. for $265 million. Theeffective date of the sale is Jan. 1, 1998 with closing expected inthe second quarter.