Texas

Kerr-McGee Corp. Oil & Gas Onshore LP has sold a portion of its West Texas and Oklahoma producing assets for $127 million to Aethon I, LP. The sale includes 16 fields with estimated net production of 4,900 b/d of oil and 7 MMcf/d of gas. Kerr-McGee said proceeds from the sale have been used to reduce debt.

Kerr-McGee Corp. Oil & Gas Onshore LP has sold a portion of its West Texas and Oklahoma producing assets for $127 million to Aethon I, LP. The sale includes 16 fields with estimated net production of 4,900 b/d of oil and 7 MMcf/d of gas. Kerr-McGee said proceeds from the sale have been used to reduce debt.

Affiliated pipelines Texas Eastern and Algonquin removed all remaining transportation restrictions Tuesday.

Effective with the start of Monday’s gas day, Texas Eastern was not accepting incremental IT nominations for delivery to Market Zone 3 (M-3). In addition, no due-shipper imbalance makeup gas was available in M-3. Affililate Algonquin restricted Monday all incremental forward-haul AIT and Authorized Overrun service anywhere on its system.

Citing a forecast of cold temperatures through the Thanksgiving weekend and into next week in Market Zone 3 (M-3), Texas Eastern said Tuesday that due to anticipated operating conditions and loads, it will restrict interruptible M-3 deliveries starting Wednesday until further notice. “The need for further restrictions will be evaluated as conditions unfold,” the pipeline said. Also effective with Wednesday’s gas day, no due-shipper gas will be allowed to be taken off the system.

Texas Eastern restricted all deliveries Friday to the Transco Ragley interconnect in its West Louisiana pool, saying the pressure differential between the two pipelines did not “accommodate deliveries to Transco’s system.” The condition was expected to continue through Monday (Nov. 18).

The strength of the upstream sector holds the key to the performance of integrated oil and gas companies going forward, as poor quarterly earnings and lower forecasts going into 2003 require independents and majors to rethink their operating strategies.

Initial work was completed early this month on Transco’s McMullen Lateral in South Texas in conjunction with a state highway widening project (see Daily GPI, Sept. 19), but additional maintenance will be required Wednesday and Thursday. All flows upstream of Milepost 47.866 on the lateral will be shut in at that time, affecting about 35 MMcf/d. See the bulletin board for a list of affected points.

Houston’s office space and unemployed energy professionals may grow if Williams Cos. decides to consolidate and move its Texas operations to its Tulsa headquarters. The company, which wants to trim at least $200 million more in costs a year, confirmed that consolidation and relocation discussions have begun, but no final decision has been announced.