Shareholders

Shareholders have approved Devon Energy’s $5.3 billion purchase of Ocean Energy, which makes Devon one of the largest North American independent producers of oil and gas with an enterprise value of more than $20 billion and 2.2 billion boe of proved reserves.

After one board member dissented, Plains Resources Inc. said its stockholders last week approved a contested merger bid by a subsidiary of Vulcan Energy Corp. Plains and Vulcan closed the merger on Friday, with Plains stockholders receiving $17.25 in cash for each share of Plains common stock they own.

After one board member dissented, Plains Resources Inc. said its stockholders approved a contested merger bid by a subsidiary of Vulcan Energy Corp. Plains and Vulcan expect to close the merger on Friday, with Plains stockholders receiving $17.25 in cash for each share of Plains common stock they own.

Making good on its previous warnings to its shareholders, ConocoPhillips said Thursday that its 2Q2004 worldwide natural gas and crude oil production levels are expected to be lower than they were during 1Q2004.

Making good on its previous warnings to its shareholders, ConocoPhillips said last week that its 2Q2004 worldwide natural gas and crude oil production levels are expected to be lower than they were during 1Q2004.

A preliminary vote tabulation prepared by an independent inspector has affirmed that shareholders voted to elect all 12 of El Paso Corp.’s board of director nominees at the annual meeting in June. On the day of the annual meeting, Ronald Kuehn Jr., El Paso’s interim CEO, announced that the board had been elected in a close vote (see Daily GPI, June 18).

Once classified as safe investments suitable for “widows and orphans,” gas and electric utility stocks interest a broader cross section of investors, more interested in how well their investments perform and appreciate in value instead of the dividend yields or management performance, according to a new survey by Deloitte & Touche.

Once classified as safe investments suitable for “widows and orphans,” gas and electric utility stocks interest a broader cross section of investors, more interested in how well their investments perform and appreciate in value instead of the dividend yields or management performance, according to a new survey by Deloitte & Touche.

Aquila Inc. shareholders went on a roller coaster ride last week as ILA share prices plummeted $8, or 36%, from the $22.25 close on April 26 to last Tuesday’s low of $14.26 and then rebounded back above $17 on waves of bad and then good news. Moody’s Investor Service posted an outlook negative on the company’s credit April 26, putting Aquila in danger of falling below investment grade. After reaffirming its commitment to maintain an investment grade credit rating, Aquila announced it would buy Cogentrix Energy Inc., a large independent power producer with 3,496 MW of diverse power generation assets, for $1.5 billion, including debt assumption. The purchase, which was viewed favorably by Wall Street, overshadowed a negative earnings report the company released the following day.