Daily GPI

Western Gas Resources, Inc. announced yesterday that itswholly-owned subsidiary, Western Gas Resources-Oklahoma, Inc.(WGRO), purchased Panhandle Gathering Co.’s (PGC) 50% interest inWestana Gathering Co. for an undisclosed sum. The transaction hasan effective date of Jan. 1, 2000 and gives WGRO full ownership ofthe company.

With gas and electric utility stocks continuing to probe thedepths after a brief spike in a January fuel-cell frenzy, someobservers and executives are keeping their eyes peeled for the nextseries of corporate takeovers in the industry.

Although a recent rate case settlement allowed PG&E to raiseits distribution rates, the hike will not translate into higherbills for customers. The utility said its revised gas tarifffiling, which the California Public Utilities Commission yesterday,will actually reduce overall residential gas rates by 3.1%.

A week after receiving Federal Energy Regulatory Commission(FERC) approval of the first phase of its Wisconsin 2000 ExpansionProject, Coastal’s ANR Pipeline announced plans to continueexpanding its pipeline given sufficient market demand.

Northern Natural Gas completed repairs and restored serviceWednesday after damage by a third party caused a force majeuresituation Tuesday on its East Leg. Line pressure was reduced andservice was curtailed temporarily downstream of Belleville(Lafayette County, WI).

Tennessee expects its 300 Line in northern Pennsylvania to returnto service today following completion of repairs to Sunday morning’srupture (see Daily GPI, Feb. 29). Unlessconditions change, the pipeline will accept intra-day Cycle 1nomination increases beginning at 5 p.m. CST for all meters downstreamof Main Line Valve 314.

Much like the beginning of February, the March aftermarket gotoff to a strong start Tuesday with swing numbers for March 1 onlytrading up from apparent index levels. Unlike last month,first-of-March prices also were generally at least a nickel or moreabove end-of-February levels.

After reaching a new life-of-the-contract high on Monday,follow-through technical buying propelled the April gas futurescontract sharply higher again yesterday. April ended the regulartrading session up 7.5 cents at $2.761 after reaching a high of$2.770. The low for the day was 10 cents down from that at $2.660.May climbed 7.6 cents to $2.771 and the summer strip (Apr.-Oct.)ended the day very strong at $2.786, up 6.5 cents for the session.

BP Amoco exercised its right of first refusal to buy SouthernNatural Gas Co.’s one-third interest in the Destin Pipeline,growing its share to two-thirds. Tejas Destin LLC holds theremainder.