Shedding

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC), which has been shedding noncore North American properties since it bought Kerr-McGee Corp. and Western Gas Resources last year, on Monday sold a group of Central and East Texas natural gas-weighted assets to several buyers for $750 million. Only one buyer, EV Energy Partners LP (EVEP), was disclosed.

Months after shedding his role as the top federal energy regulator, former FERC Chairman Pat Wood is partnering with industry to develop energy infrastructure projects that he supports.

After spending the past two years shedding assets to shore up its balance sheet, Dynegy Inc. on Tuesday announced it is buying Sithe Energies and Sithe Independence LP from Exelon Corp., which includes a 1,042 MW combined-cycle power generation facility near Scriba, NY, four natural gas-fired merchant facilities in New York and four hydroelectric generation facilities in Pennsylvania.

After being on the divestiture road for almost a year andshedding $3 billion worth of non-core assets, TransCanada PipeLinesLtd., reported that its first nine months of 2000 and third quartershowed progress over the equivalent time periods of 1999. Netearnings before asset sales and long-term natural gas contractlosses were $433 million ($0.91 per share) for the first ninemonths of 2000, compared to $402 million ($0.86 per share) duringthe same period last year. The company attributed the 8% increaseto higher income from the power and gas marketing businesses aswell as reduced financial and preferred equity charges. Beforeadding special items, the company posted third quarter net earningsof $151 million ($0.32 per share), compared to $141 million ($0.30per share) for the third quarter of 1999.Deliveries of natural gason the Canadian Mainline and the BC system were approximately thesame for the first nine months of 2000 and 1999. The CanadianMainline delivered about 7.3 Bcf/d for both periods, while the BCsystem delivered approximately 1.1 Bcf/d. The Alberta system didexperience a decline. For the first nine months of 2000 itdelivered an average of 12.2 Bcf/d, compared with the same periodduring 1999 when it delivered 12.4 Bcf/d. Marketing also stumbled abit, as the company marketed about 6.1 Bcf/d for the first ninemonths of 2000, compared to 6.6 Bcf/d for the first nine months of1999. TransCanada took a beating on some long-term natural gascontracts it had entered into to support various pipelineinvestments and other business initiatives. Due to growing naturalgas demand in Alberta, and excess pipeline capacity leaving theprovince, the price differential between the Western CanadaSedimentary Basin and eastern market areas continued to shrink.TransCanada was forced to enter into third party arrangements tocrystallize the negative value of its long term natural gascontracts and the company reported taking a $124 million after-taxcharge associated with the losses.

BP Amoco is shedding its oil interests in Canada to concentrateon natural gas, with a vow to be the lowest-cost leader in aCanadian producer community tooling up to expand exports to theUnited States.The newly-merged empire’s Canadian arm has put upfor sale assets currently producing 53,300 barrels per day ornearly all of the former Amoco Canada’s oil holdings. The only gasput on the block is about 40 MMcf/d, or 4% of BP Amoco’s Canadiandaily production of about 1 Bcf which is associated with oilproperties.

BP Amoco is shedding its oil interests in Canada to concentrateon natural gas, with a vow to be the lowest-cost leader in aCanadian producer community tooling up to expand exports to theUnited States.The newly-merged empire’s Canadian arm has put upfor sale assets currently producing 53,300 barrels per day ornearly all of the former Amoco Canada’s oil holdings. The only gasput on the block is about 40 MMcf/d, or 4% of BP Amoco’s Canadiandaily production of about 1 Bcf, which is associated with oilproperties.

MCN Energy Group’s plan to shed exploration and productionoperations drained gallons of red ink from its 1998 bottom line,about $273 million worth. Still the company finished the year witha net loss. MCN reported a net loss of $6.2 million, compared withearnings of $112.2 million in 1997. Including results from theE&P unit – discontinued in anticipation of sale – MCN reporteda net loss for 1998 of $279 million, compared with earnings of$142.3 million in 1997. All figures include special charges.

Almost as fast as they had gone up Tuesday, cash prices headedback down Wednesday. In one of the quickest hit-and-run operationsever mounted on Gulf of Mexico production, Earl achieved hurricanestatus but was already leaving offshore platforms behind afterveering sharply eastward overnight. While the storm appeared to beheaded into Florida’s Panhandle, workers were returning toplatforms off Louisiana and Texas and the estimated 8 Bcf/d ofshut-in gas gradually started to flow again.