Special

Dominion said Wednesday its 2001 operating earnings, excluding special charges, are expected to “meet or slightly exceed” analyst expectations of $4.15 per share, and it reaffirmed its 2002 earnings guidance of $4.90-4.95 per share. The higher earnings come despite fourth quarter write-downs of about $348 million, created by $97 million related to Enron Corp. exposure, a write-down of Dominion Capital assets worth $183 million, and a restructuring initiative announced in November, which will cost $68 million.

Dominion said Wednesday its 2001 operating earnings, excluding special charges, are expected to “meet or slightly exceed” analyst expectations of $4.15 per share, and it reaffirmed its 2002 earnings guidance of $4.90-4.95 per share. The higher earnings come despite fourth quarter write-downs of about $348 million, created by $97 million related to Enron Corp. exposure, a write-down of Dominion Capital assets worth $183 million, and a restructuring initiative announced in November, which will cost $68 million.

Westcoast Energy Inc. announced Thursday that its securityholders, at a special meeting in Vancouver, overwhelmingly approved its acquisition by Duke Energy. Over 96% of the votes cast were in favor of Duke’s US$8.5 billion bid for the major Canadian pipeline company. The purchase price includes assumption of about $4 billion in debt.

In a story that ran in the Oct. 25 edition of NGI’s Daily Gas Price Index, titled “El Paso Posts Solid Earnings, But Special Charges Lower Profits,” some comments were incorrectly attributed to El Paso Merchant Energy Group President Ralph Eads III. The comments were made by Greg Jenkins, CEO of El Paso Global Networks. The comments also contained some inaccuracies. Jenkins said, “The [global network business] has deteriorated much more over the course of the past several weeks and few months. The regulatory environment in our judgement is viewed unfavorably against real competition, and today the market fundamentals are very weak. Consequently we are reducing our focus [on telecommunications]. Our focus next year is going to be on those activities where that value is recognizable, that being the Texas market in particular, and maximizing returns on those assets.” Jenkins’ was not referring to the merchant generation business, and El Paso Corp. has reaffirmed its confidence in merchant generation and its position in that market. NGI regrets the errors.

Rapidly declining gas and oil prices, a weakening economy and higher operating costs pressured ExxonMobil Corp. earnings down 23% or $970 million, excluding merger effects, to $3.3 billion ($0.48 per share). Earnings per share declined by 20%. Domestic natural gas sales were off more than 16% from the same period last year.

Chevron Corp. and proposed merger partner Texaco Inc. Friday scheduled special shareholder meetings for October 9, with a record date of August 20, to vote on their previously announced merger (see NGI, Oct. 23, 2000). The date of the meetings, as well as other merger-related information — including a new New York Stock Exchange ticker symbol, CVX — were contained in a filing by Chevron made Friday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The new company would be called ChevronTexaco.

Chevron Corp. and proposed merger partner Texaco Inc. on Friday scheduled special shareholder meetings for Oct. 9 to vote on their previously announced merger (see Daily GPI, Oct. 17, 2000). The date of the meetings, as well as other merger-related information — including a new New York Stock Exchange ticker symbol, CVX — were contained in a filing by Chevron made Friday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The new company would be called ChevronTexaco.

Energy Search Inc. announced that it will hold a special meeting of its common and preferred shareholders on July 19 in Knoxville, TN, to vote on a proposal to approve the merger of Energy Search and EOG Resources Inc. and to approve the transactions proposed by the merger agreement. If the merger and related transactions are approved, shares of Energy Search common stock and preferred stock will be converted to the right to receive $8.22 in cash. Only those persons who owned common stock or preferred stock of Energy Search at the close of business on the first of June will be entitled to vote on the proposal. The board of directors of Energy Search said it unanimously recommends that stockholders vote for the merger proposal. Under the agreement first announced in late May (see Daily GPI, May 24), EOG Resources said total consideration for Energy Search would equal about $37.6 million. Energy Search is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company focused primarily on developmental drilling and production of natural gas reserves in the Appalachian Basin. Energy Search holds 75 Bcfe of reserves and produces about 7 MMcf/d of Appalachian natural gas. Its proven reserves increased 17.9% in 2000 compared to 1999.

Consolidated Edison’s reservations about a merger with Northeast Utilities (NU) seem a bit clearer now following NU’s latest financial report of a 29% drop in first quarter earnings. The New England combination utility company’s results came in well short of Wall Street expectations. After non-recurring charges, NU earnings were $53.2 million, or $0.36 per share, compared with $74.6 million, or $0.55 per share, for the same period in 2000.