Sold

In a bid to complete what others have failed to accomplish, BlueDolphin Gas Storage LLC announced its plans to purchase the AvocaGas Storage facility from Northeastern Gas Caverns LLC yesterday.With the purchase, Blue Dolphin will become the third owner of thefacility this year. No financial terms of the transaction weredisclosed.

Reliant Energy International Inc. said it has sold its 50%indirect interest in a natural gas distribution company alongMexico’s Gulf Coast. Tractebel purchased Gas Natural de Rio Panucofrom an indirect subsidiary of Reliant and its Mexican partner,Corporacion Gutsa SA de CV (Gutsa) for $8.5 million. NorAm Energy,which was acquired by Reliant Energy in August 1997, partnered withGutsa to win a 30-year concession to build, operate and maintain anatural gas system in the northeastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas.The area includes the cities of Tampico, Ciudad Madero andAltamira, which lie in the Panuco River Basin, and has a totalpopulation of one million.

Southwestern Energy sold its Missouri gas distribution assets toAtmos Energy last week for $32 million in cash, but SouthwesternCEO Harold M. Korell said the company isn’t ready to part with itsArkansas utility operations to complete its transformation intoentirely an exploration and production company.

Southwestern Energy sold its Missouri gas distribution assets toAtmos Energy yesterday for $32 million in cash, but SouthwesternCEO Harold M. Korell said the company isn’t ready to part with itsArkansas utility operations to complete its transformation intoentirely an exploration and production company.

KN Energy cleaned house last week, starting with a corporate yard sale with tags on everything but the kitchen sink. It also continued the shake-up among top management that began with the sudden departure of former CEO Larry Hall last month when KN’s merger with Kinder Morgan was first announced (see NGI July 12).

Southern Mineral Corp. of Houston sold its interests in theBrushy Creek Field in Lavaca and Dewitt counties of Texas to ANRProduction Co. for $15.2 million. Closing on the Texan Gardensfield has been extended for up to 30 days. The company earmarkedmost of the proceeds for cutting bank debt. Southern Mineral is anoil and gas acquisition, exploration and production company thatowns interests in oil and gas properties along the Texas GulfCoast, Canada and Ecuador. The company’s principal assets includeinterests in the Big Escambia Creek field in Alabama and the PineCreek field in Alberta, Canada. The company is listed on the NasdaqNational Market under the symbol SMIN.

Columbia Gas Transmission sold its Project Penny gatheringpipeline and compressor facilities in Pennsylvania and New York toNorse Pipeline for $21.5 million. Norse is an affiliate of SchansonEnergy LLC, the energy investment arm of Schanson CapitalManagement of Los Angeles, and Nornew Inc., an integrated oil andgas exploration company focused mainly on the Appalachian Basin andthe Maritime provinces in Atlantic Canada. Norse Pipeline’sdomestic operations are based in Houston and Jamestown, NY. ProjectPenny consists of seven compressor station locations and about 341miles of gas pipeline in northwestern Pennsylvania and southwesternNew York. Constructed in the late 1970s and early 1980s, theProject Penny facilities have no direct connection to ColumbiaTransmission’s other pipeline facilities and are not necessary forthe company to provide its core services of interstate gastransportation and storage. The purchase of Project Penny makesNorse Pipeline the largest gas gatherer in the northern AppalachianBasin, with access to about 6,500 gas wells in New York andPennsylvania and the capacity to gather more than 100,000 Mcf/d.

Columbia Gas Transmission sold its Project Penny gatheringpipeline and compressor facilities in Pennsylvania and New York toNorse Pipeline for $21.5 million. Norse is an affiliate of SchansonEnergy LLC, the energy investment arm of Schanson CapitalManagement of Los Angeles, and Nornew Inc., an integrated oil andgas exploration company focused mainly on the Appalachian Basin andthe Maritime provinces in Atlantic Canada. Norse Pipeline’sdomestic operations are based in Houston and Jamestown, NY.

Aurora Natural Gas of Dallas sold its New England retailbusiness to Select Energy of Berlin, CT, for $26 million. Select isa wholly owned subsidiary of Northeast Utilities.