Stars

The stars are aligned for the exploration and production industry, particularly in the Rocky Mountain region, according to Stuart Wagner of Petrie Parkman and John Olson of Sanders Morris Harris. Speaking at GasMart in Denver Tuesday, Olson told producers the next five years are probably going to be their best ever, with “vast” revenue forecasts coming in.

All the economic and political stars would have to be in alignment for even the relatively modest Canadian version of arctic natural gas development to make it into construction, says the senior partner.

Skies brightened significantly last week for the merger of BPAmoco and Atlantic Richfield Co. (ARCO), with the companiesannouncing moves to assuage the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), butfederal regulators still have yet to give their blessing to theunion. And high gasoline prices have at least one legislatorcalling for strict curbs on oil patch mega-mergers.

BP Amoco said it is near an agreement with the FTC on its mergerwith Atlantic Richfield Co. (ARCO). The news comes with theannouncement the companies are selling ARCO’s Alaskan businesses toPhillips Petroleum Co. for $7 billion. BP Amoco also agreed to sellARCO’s interests in the Cushing storage terminal, together withvarious pipeline interests, to TEPPCO Partners of Houston for $355million.

For municipal gas buyers, the stars are lined up just right for striking a deal on supply. Low interest rates on municipal bonds and low gas prices have led to a rash of long-term prepaid transactions.

The current financial stars in the pipeline firmament areColumbia Energy, El Paso Energy and Enron Corp., while distributorsto watch are AGL Resources, MarketSpan, Peoples Energy and UGICorp., according to Curt Launer, vice president of Donaldson,Lufkin &amp Jenrette. Prospects are good for the companies named,although a biannual report by the New York investment house showsthe overall interstate gas pipeline group “has not been doing verywell” so far in 1998, with stock prices significantlyunderperforming the Standard &amp Poor’s 500 Index.

The current financial stars in the pipeline firmament areColumbia Energy, El Paso Energy and Enron Corp., while distributorsto watch are AGL Resources, MarketSpan, Peoples Energy and UGICorp., according to Curt Launer, vice president of Donaldson,Lufkin & Jenrette.Prospects are good for the companiesnamed, although a biannual report by the New York investment houseshows the overall interstate gas pipeline group “has not been doingvery well” so far in 1998, with stock prices significantlyunderperforming the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.