Wide

AES Corp., a world-wide power generation company, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire New Energy Ventures Inc. (NEV), an energy service firm for large commercial and industrial buyers, in a transaction valued at approximately $90 million.

“We are standing on the doorstep of some of America’s largestenergy-consuming markets: Boston, New York City, Chicago,Dallas-Fort Worth, San Francisco and Los Angeles. We believe therewill be about a half-dozen national energy providers. SouthernCompany intends to be one of those companies.”

In a rare display of unanimity, pipelines and producers lastweek said the federal government’s ban on oil and gas production ona wide swath of public lands – both onshore and offshore – was thebiggest obstacle to supplying the 30 Tcf of gas needed to meet theClinton administration’s proposed global-warming targets.

In a rare display of unanimity, pipelines and producersyesterday said the federal government’s ban on oil and gasproduction on a wide swath of public lands – both onshore andoffshore – was the biggest obstacle to supplying the 30 Tcf of gasneeded to meet the Clinton administration’s proposed global-warmingtargets.

Energy.com Corp. of Columbus, OH, plans to go international withits Internet site on the World Wide Web. The global enhancement ofEnergy.com on-line will evolve through a series of strategicpartnerships and joint ventures. “Rapid expansion of our businessto capture the international opportunities is a key part of theoverall plan for Energy.com,” said Paul Feldman, chairman. “We seethe international market as a natural extension of the capabilitieswe have in place for the U.S. market.”

The Gas Industry Standards Board (GISB) executive committee (EC)approved standards for World Wide Web-based electronic commerce andtitle transfer tracking last week. The EC approved the first partof a series of standards designed to provide a 13-month transitionfor interstate gas pipelines from electronic bulletin boards tointeractive Web sites.

The Gas Industry Standards Board (GISB) executive committee (EC)approved standards for World Wide Web-based electronic commerce andtitle transfer tracking last week. The EC approved the first partof a series of standards designed to provide a 13-month transitionfor interstate gas pipelines from electronic bulletin boards tointeractive Web sites.

For the second day in a row Thursday, natural gas futures dippedand rallied within a wide trading band. But in contrast toWednesday’s late price falloff, trading yesterday featured ashort-covering rally before the close that lifted the Januarycontract to its $1.959 settlement price.

National Fuel has filed an application with the PennsylvaniaPublic Utility Commission to begin a system-wide customer choiceprogram starting in April. The program would be a major expansionof the company’s current Energy Select pilot in Mercer County, inwhich 19,700 retail gas customers were allowed — actually forced– to choose alternative suppliers beginning in June 1997. Theexpanded program would offer a choice of suppliers to 210,000customers in National Fuel’s 14 county service territory. It alsowould include some significant differences from the Energy Selectpilot.