Trade

Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles last week called on a hesitant FederalTrade Commission (FTC) to swiftly approve BP Amoco’s proposedacquisition of Atlantic Richfield Co. (Arco), which has beenstalled at the agency due to antitrust concerns.

The controversial two-year period in which Dynegy Marketing andTrade held a huge chunk of El Paso’s firm capacity to the SouthernCalifornia border is coming to an end, and western gas traders arelooking for a new market regime in the new millennium. Unless thepipeline manages to negotiate a deal for most if not all of thecapacity expiring at the end of 1999, traders are expecting theabundance of transportation space from Southwest basins to theborder to lower regional prices next year.

Although the Federal Trade Commission approved the sale of itscustomers to Shell Energy Services last week, Peachtree Natural Gasis not clear of problems yet, as the Georgia Public ServiceCommission (GPSC) is investigating slamming charges against theembattled marketer. GPSC Commissioner Bobby Baker said yesterday aslamming investigation is currently under way and that anywherefrom several hundred to several thousand gas customers could beaffected. There is no timeframe for the conclusion of theinvestigation.

As had been expected, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)yesterday approved the $81 billion combination of Exxon and Mobil.The companies said they have accepted the terms of the FTC consentorder.

Although the merger of Exxon and Mobil has raised the eyebrowsof at least two states, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) isexpected to vote today to approve the $81 billion deal to createone of the world’s largest energy companies. The deal includes aproposal to sell about 2,400 gas stations nationwide, and at leastConnecticut and New Hampshire are concerned. Although ConnecticutAttorney General Richard Blumenthal opposes the deal, he told theAssociated Press it is unlikely a single state could block themerger and it also is unlikely a coalition of states will form tochallenge the deal.

Three West Coast states are coordinating their efforts with theFederal Trade Commission to resolve the antitrust problemsassociated with BP-Amoco’s acquisition of Atlantic Richfield. Inthe event the issues can’t be worked out, the states said they willbring a lawsuit to block the $26 billion marriage.

The $6.4 billion merger of Dominion Resources and ConsolidatedNatural Gas (CNG) picked up approvals from the Federal TradeCommission (FTC) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission(FERC) last week, but both agencies included conditions to protectcustomers in Virginia.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) approved the merger ofDominion Resources Inc. and Consolidated Natural Gas Co. (CNG)provided Dominion divests CNG subsidiary Virginia Natural Gas Inc.(VNG) to alleviate anticompetitive effects. Dominion, throughsubsidiary Virginia Power, accounts for more than 70% of allelectric power generation capacity in the Commonwealth of Virginia.CNG, through its ownership of VNG, is the primary distributor ofgas in southeastern Virginia. The proposed acquisition is valued atabout $5.3 billion.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) approved the merger ofDominion Resources Inc. and Consolidated Natural Gas Co. Stillpending are approvals by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commissionand the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are expected byyear end. The merger is expected to close in the first quarter of2000.