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The recently joined Altra Energy Technologies and QuickTrade LLCposted record gas trading volumes Jan. 28 when their combinedtrading systems reached 30 Bcf in deals. Previous record volumesfor the stand-alone companies when combined were less than 30 Bcf,said Altra Chairman Rusty Braziel

Continuing to work through the monstrous merger completed amonth ago, BP Amoco centralized its power last week by choosing theWestlake complex in Houston as its exploration and productionheadquarters, then revealing a 1,400 person job cut at the complex.Company officials said the jobs were lost due to duplication andcommodity price reasons. Overall, BP Amoco plans to lay off 1,600workers in Texas by the end of the first quarter.

Vastar Resources replaced 215% of its 1998 production with newreserves, its highest-ever reserve replacement rate. Provedreserves additions totaled 1,052 Bcfe, or 1,023 Bcfe inclusive ofdivestitures. Year-end total reserves were a record 3,700 Bcfe, up17% over the year-end 1997 base. Average reserve replacement costs,including acquisitions, were $1.11/Mcfe.

Canada’s National Energy Board gave natural-gas exporters alicense to grow by approving the Alliance Pipeline Project, but theboard included a warning of the risks of excess capacity: pricecuts and strained supplies.

Results of Burlington Resources, Apache Corp., Vastar Resources,and Union Pacific Resources began the tale of woe that independentproducers’ will be telling with their third quarter earnings. Thecompanies cited a common cause for their malaise – depressed gasand oil prices and liquids margins that are at historic lows.

The California Public Utilities Commission has set a newschedule for hearings on gas industry restructuring, leading to aproposed policy decision in early 1999 and public hearings aroundthe state. The CPUC expects to adopt a final market structurepolicy no earlier than January 1, 2000 in keeping with alegislative mandate which prohibits the Commission making anychanges until the year 2000.

Chairman James Hoecker said this week FERC plans to hold onestaff workshop (possibly more) with the gas industry in mid-Octoberto flesh out the details involved in the auctioning of short-termcapacity. The workshop will occur prior to the deadline forindustry comments on the notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) thataddresses regulation of short-term capacity, specifically theauctioning of that capacity. The comments are due in earlyNovember.

In the aftermath of selling its bulk energy marketing arm,Consolidated Natural Gas (CNG) said it plans to shift its focus toCNG Producing, its New Orleans-based E&P arm, which willsignificantly increase over-all oil and gas production next year asthree key offshore pipeline projects come into operation. Much ofthe increase is expected to come from its production activities inthe Gulf of Mexico.

Describing Northern Natural Gas’ recent all-new approach torates as “innovative,” FERC yesterday gave the go-ahead for anexamination of its components as “a useful test case” accompanyingthe Commission’s generic regulatory review.