While

While Eastern Pennsylvania utility, PP&ampL Resources, continuedits cross-country expansion, annexing assets in Montana and Maine,former utility Montana Power mapped out a future in oil, gas andtelecommunications.

While analysts consider Devon Energy Corp.’s planned acquisition of PennzEnergy Co. a smart move, PennzEnergy investors are smarting over what they consider too low a price.

Devon Energy Corp. and PennzEnergy Co. announced plans to mergeyesterday. While the deal was generally cheered by analysts, somecriticized PennzEnergy Chairman James L. Pate for letting thecompany go too cheaply without considering other options. Theannouncement also raised the hackles of PennzEnergy investors.

Old Dominion Electric Cooperative and Reliant Energy signed afive-year business alliance to evaluate the development of up to2,400 MW of new power generation, while partnering on retailmarketing operations in the Mid-Atlantic states.

About 1 Bcf/d of NOVA capacity will be cut from May 31 to June9 as part of the system is inspected for stress corrosion crackingwhile tie-ins and other maintenance are performed. NOVA will take100 miles of 36-inch line between the Miekle River and Knightcompressor stations in northwest Alberta out of service during thattime. NOVA normally moves a total of about 11.8 Bcf/d, a spokesmansaid.

Merger rumors that tweaked the stock prices of Chevron andTexaco have cooled somewhat. While the industry awaits word of adeal (or no deal), observers might consider the words of managementand economics professor Lester Thurow.

Merger rumors that tweaked the stock prices of Chevron andTexaco have cooled somewhat. While the industry awaits word of adeal (or no deal), observers might consider the words of managementand economics professor Lester Thurow.

While eastern markets meandered around in a generally flatperformance Monday, the West was achieving significant gains ofabout a nickel or more. Topping the list was San Juan Basin, wheresupply outages helped drive quotes up by about 15 cents. Prices inthe Rockies, Pacific Northwest and western Canada also were strongdue to cold weather. It snowed in Calgary Monday morning, onesource said, adding this is late in the season for snow but not arecord for Calgary.

Although like the rest of the industry, Houston-based PogoProducing Co. has been wrangling with super soft commodity prices,the company is wading deeper into the Gulf of Mexico with a focuson future growth.