Under

With moderating temperatures, a hurricane lull and an upcomingholiday weekend pulling the rug out from under bidweek cash prices,the Nymex October futures contract also decided to take the plungeyesterday, plummeting into the $2.70s before settling in thelow-$2.80s and adding to last week’s market dip. Some observersbelieve October is destined to test at least the $2.60s before thisdrop is over.

ANR notified interruptible storage customers under the DDS andMBS rate schedules that they will be limited to zero net injectionsduring the Sept. 1-Oct. 31 period. Injections will be allowed intoDDS/MBS accounts only if the customer withdraws an equal or greateramount of gas prior to Nov. 1.

Enron Oil & Gas (EOG) closed the share exchange to establishEOG as an independent company yesterday. Under the exchange, which wasannounced last month, Enron Corp. exchanged 62.27 million of its 82.27million shares of EOG common stock for EOG’s China and Indiaoperations (see story July 21). EOG alsocontributed $600 million to an India subsidiary that has beentransferred to Enron. In addition, EOG issued 27 million shares at$22.25 per share and received net proceeds of $578.3 million. Pendingcompletion of another convertible stock offering, Enron’s remaininginterest in the company will be less than 3%. EOG will soon adopt anew name EOG Resources Inc. Forrest E. Hoglund, EOG chairman, whoannounced his planned retirement in Sept. 1998, retired effectiveAug. 15. Mark G. Papa, formerly president and CEO, was electedchairman and CEO. Edmund P. Segner III, formerly vice chairman andchief of staff, was elected president and chief of staff.

Thanks partly to decisions in the United States, Canadians areturning up the heat under hot drilling plays along the Albertafoothills of the Rocky Mountains and in northeastern BritishColumbia. Chevron Canada’s western exploration manager, LarryStewart, revealed in a session of financial analysts howAmerican-held hot prospects of filling expanding export pipelinesare being opened up to Canadian-owned firms.

Thanks partly to decisions in the United States, Canadians areturning up the heat under hot drilling plays along the Albertafoothills of the Rocky Mountains and in northeastern BritishColumbia. Chevron Canada’s western exploration manager, LarryStewart, revealed to a session of financial analysts howAmerican-held hot prospects of filling expanding export pipelinesare being opened up to Canadian-owned firms.

Southern Energy Inc. (SEI), one of Southern Co.’s mainsubsidiaries, named S. Marce Fuller its new CEO last week. Underthe leadership of the former CEO, Tom Boren, SEI reported $69million in second-quarter 1999 earnings, compared with $25 millionfor the same period last year. Now it is up to Fuller to continuehis success.

Much of the U.S. bore some resemblance to a lit oven Thursday,and the Nymex screen was soaring like a space shuttle takeoff fromCape Canaveral. The two events combined to give strong support toeastern cash prices, which rose between a nickel and a dime atalmost every point. Gas demand was especially intense at theNortheast and Chicago citygates; both were up about a dime. TranscoZone 6-NYC deliveries topped all points with a high of $2.70.

Southern Energy Inc. (SEI), one of Southern Co.’s mainsubsidiaries, named S. Marce Fuller its new CEO Tuesday. Under theleadership of the former CEO, Tom Boren, SEI reported $69 millionin second-quarter 1999 earnings, compared with $25 million for thesame period last year. Now it is up to Fuller to continue hissuccess.

NiSource said it filed the necessary information under theHart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 with theFederal Trade Commission and Department of Justice regarding itstender offer for all of Columbia Energy Group’s common shares. CEOGary Neale said it “sends a serious message to Columbia that we arecommitted to completing this transaction and that we are confidentin our ability to secure the necessary regulatory approvals. Wehave said throughout that we believe the regulatory approvalprocess can be completed within six to nine months if we worktogether. HSR clearance is an important first step, and one thatconfirms our commitment to move forward on all fronts of thistransaction.” NiSource is offering $68/share for Columbia stock.Columbia’s board has said the company is not for sale and isfighting the hostile takeover attempt (See Daily GPI July 16, July15, June 25, June 11 and June 8).