Year

Despite announcing one-year commodity sales agreements withOutback Steakhouse and the Hair Cuttery in Northern Virginia thisweek, Constellation Energy Source said retail commodity sales arelosing their allure. The company, a nonregulated subsidiary ofBaltimore Gas & Electric, has closed several small retailmarketing offices and eliminated six retail commodity salespositions to make room for more engineers and energy servicesexperts.

Construction of a new 710 MW gas-fired cogeneration plant toreplace a 75-year old coal-fired powerhouse supplying Ford MotorCompany’s massive Rouge complex and Rouge Steel Co. in Dearborn,MI, is going into overdrive following a boiler explosion lastTuesday that killed one person, critically injured a dozen othersand destroyed the power plant.

Construction of a new 710 MW gas-fired cogeneration plant toreplace a 75-year old powerhouse supplying Ford Motor Company’smassive Rouge complex and Rouge Steel Co. in Dearborn, MI, is goinginto overdrive following the explosion of a boiler Tuesday thatkilled one person, critically injured a dozen others and shut downthe old plant.

Marking the start of a five-year, $400 million Gulf of Mexico(GOM) exploration and production (E&ampP) assault, Conoco announcedthe exchange of interest in several deep-water blocks with Exxonand the debut of the Deepwater Pathfinder, a drillship capable ofreaching 10,000-foot depths. In the exchange, Conoco acquired 50%of 29 Exxon-owned blocks and Exxon acquired 50% of 30 Conoco-ownedblocks. The undeveloped acreage is in Green Canyon, Garden Banks,Walker Ridge and Keathley Canyon. Terms of the transaction were notdisclosed. With this addition, Conoco holds interest in 295 blocksin the GOM, amounting to 1.2 million net acres.

Marking the start of a five-year, $400 million Gulf of Mexico(GOM) exploration and production (E&P) assault, Conocoannounced Monday the exchange of interest in several deep-waterblocks with Exxon and the debut of the Deepwater Pathfinder, adrillship capable of reaching 10,000-feet depths.

Duke Energy Power Services (DEPS) has signed a 10-year leasewith the Port of San Diego to operate and eventually replace the706 MW South Bay Power Plant located just south of San Diego in thecity of Chula Vista.

PG&E Energy Services kicked off the new year with a bangyesterday by announcing it inked a major deal with Equity OfficeProperties Trust, the largest publicly held owner and manager ofoffice properties in the nation, to supply electricity to itsoffice buildings in northern California.

Adding to double-digit gains achieved Wednesday, the futuresmarket plodded higher Thursday when short-covering activity boostedprices in light, pre-holiday trading. The move left February with atwo-day gain of 16.4 cents, a feat January could not muster duringits entire reign as prompt month.

Equitable Resources Inc. is recording a total of $120 million inrestructuring-related charges, the company said Tuesday, in acontinuing effort started by company CEO Murry Gerber to focus oncore capabilities. Half of the charges will be accumulated becauseof severance, staff reductions and extinguishment of debt.Equitable expects a 20% employee reduction compared to mid-1998staff levels. The other half of the charge is a result of thedevaluation and consequent write-down of selected Gulf region gasand oil properties due to low commodity prices. Overall, Equitableexpects the measures to reduce annual expenses by $20 million in1999.