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Marketers hoping to capitalize on the deregulating energymarketplace would be wise to examine the strategies used in otherderegulated businesses, according to a paper by The Paladin Group.Paladin said energy marketers could fail by repeating mistakes ofthe past.

Duke Energy Transport and Trading signed a letter of intent tobuy some of Dynegy’s U.S. crude oil transportation and marketingoperations for $50 to $55 million pre-tax subject to terms of theagreement. The sale is expected to close by the end of the thirdquarter.

Congressional proponents of royalty in-kind legislation, whichwould force the government to assume the cost of transporting andmarketing its royalty portion of oil and gas production, aredrawing large sums of political action committee donations, softmoney and individual contributions from the oil and gas industry.

By acquiring Union Texas Petroleum in a deal worth about $3.3billion, ARCO would grow production, reserves and its presenceinternationally. The two companies agreed to merge yesterday, withARCO acquiring all Union Texas common stock for $29 cash per share,including debt and preferred stock of Union Texas. The deal willimmediately add 140,000 barrels/d of oil equivalent to ARCO’sproduction. Union Texas production last year was 44 million BOE,51% of it natural gas.

Northwest said it would not issue an Operational Flow Order fortoday’s gas day even though repairs to Unit #1 at the Snohomish(WA) Compressor Station were continuing Wednesday. The pipelineexpected to complete the work by Wednesday night, but said an OFOstill might be possible should the maintenance continue throughtoday. Northwest credited cool weather and customer cooperation onbalancing with allowing it to meet demand for Sumas/SIPI gas overthe weekend. But with warming weather and continued high demand itis having difficulty meeting Primary Firm nominations without theSnohomish #1 unit

The British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) has voted downthe BC Gas Southern Crossing Pipeline, a $350 million pipeline thatwould have paralleled the existing BC Gas mainline in southernBritish Columbia between Yahk and Oliver.

A new step was added Thursday to the elaborate tango of WesternResources and Kansas City Power & Light as the companiescontinue their attempt at a union. Western and Kansas City Power& Light (KCPL) restructured their merger agreement, forming anew electric company. The new company-to be named WestarEnergy-will be headquartered in Kansas City, MO, and traded on theNew York Stock Exchange. The announcement met with early approvalfrom at least one analyst.

Florida Gas Transmission said Thursday it was experiencing”extremely high” linepack and that Operational Flow Orders would beissued to customers taking less than scheduled volumes. Otheroperational tools such as an Alert Day notice were also beingconsidered, the pipeline said.

Add another pipeline project to the list of those that wouldmove gas eastward from the burgeoning Chicago market center.Crossroads Pipeline, in conjunction with CNG Transmission and EastOhio Gas, scheduled an open season for firm transportationbeginning Monday, March 2 and concluding April 20.