Spend

Building on the success it has enjoyed so far in its Bossiernatural gas play in East Texas, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. saidyesterday it would spend nearly a third more in the region thisyear, almost $535 million total, to expand its development programand increase its exploration prospects.

NRG Energy Inc. plans to spend $658 million to acquire fourcombined cycle power projects with a total capacity of 5,961 MWfrom LS Power LLC, an independent power producer headquartered inEast Brunswick, NJ. The agreement also gives the Minneapolis-basedNRG the opportunity to acquire ownership in the next 3,000 MW ofgeneration offered by LS Power and its partners.

NRG Energy Inc. plans to spend $658 million to acquire fourcombined cycle power projects with a total capacity of 5,961 MWfrom LS Power LLC, an independent power producer headquartered inEast Brunswick, NJ. The agreement also gives the Minneapolis-basedNRG the opportunity to acquire ownership in the next 3,000 MW ofgeneration offered by LS Power and its partners.

Avista Corp.’s T.M. “Tom” Matthews has stepped down as chairman,president and CEO of the Spokane, WA.-based energy company to spendmore time with his family, but has agreed to stay through the end ofthe year in a senior executive role. Matthews, 53, joined Avista in1998. The board of directors appointed Avista Executive Vice PresidentGary G. Ely, 53, as acting president and CEO. The board also said it”remains fully supportive of the company’s strategic direction.”Considered an emerging energy star just last year, the company hasbeen rocked by poor earnings and shareholder lawsuits this yearstemming from some questionable trading decisions made in April (seeDaily GPI, Aug. 1, June 22). However, last week, the companysaid it would report third quarter earnings that were above consensusestimates, earning 52 cents a share (see Daily GPI, Oct. 16).

Atmos Energy announced last week that it plans to spend about$33 million in stock to buy the remaining 55% share of WoodwardMarketing that it does not already own. The Houston-based marketersells about 125 Bcf/year of natural gas primarily to municipalitiesand industrial end-users in the Southeast and Gulf Coast regions.

Prices usually spend Mondays recovering at least partially fromthe declines of the previous Friday. Yesterday was a reversal formost eastern points-they were giving back some of the gains thathad been realized Friday. The East tended to range from flat todown as much as a dime or more on a few Gulf Coast pipes.Trunkline’s two Louisiana pools were especially weak.

Shell Exploration & Production said it will spend nearly $1billion to develop three oil and gas discoveries that will add morethan 300 million Boe to the Gulf’s deep-water inventory. Thesethree projects, Angus, Europa and Macaroni, will increase thenumber of Shell working interest deep-water developments to 14, themost in the industry. Each project will be developed with subseasystems tied back to existing platforms.