General Interest 2000 P

10/27/2000 -- Economist: Market volatility spurred by recession fears
Market volatility will continue as investors react to each new political and financial event as a potential catalyst for economic recession, said economist Gene Stanaland at the 71st annual meeting of the Independent Petroleum Association of America here Friday morning.
10/27/2000 -- Companies expected to build six oil tankers in Rio de Janeiro
Next year Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) will ink contracts to build four large oil tankers with the private sector. Mercosul Line also expects to build two tankers, said Mauro Campos, president of Transpetro, the transport subsidiary of Petrobras.
10/27/2000 -- Swift Energy to participate in New Zealand permits
A Swift Energy subsidiary has entered agreements with subsidiaries of Fletcher Challenge Energy to earn a 20% participating interest in properties in New Zealand's Taranaki basin. Swift will earn a 20% interest in PEP 38718, which covers 57,401 acres, and a 25% participating interest in PEP 38730 covering 48,929 acres.
10/27/2000 -- Market watch, Oct. 27
Energy futures prices rose in trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange Thursday. The market reversed course in the light of the possibility of disruptions in Iraqi oil exports because of differences between the Iraqi government and the United Nations. Iraq demands that its customers be allowed to pay for their imports in euros instead of US dollars. The UN will discuss this Monday.
10/26/2000 -- Southern California Edison Co wants rate increase
Southern California Edison Co. is asking the California Public Utilities Commission for a rate increase for utility customers effective Jan. 1, 2001. If approved, the Edison International subsidiary says the proposed increase would be less than 10%, keeping rates at 1996 levels when adjusted for inflation.
10/26/2000 -- TXU reports 3Q income down 7.5%
TXU reported third quarter net income of $328 million or $1.25/share on fewer shares down from $361 million or $1.31/share for the comparable quarter last year. Though earnings per share fell 4.5%, revenue increased to $5.8 billion from $4.4 billion for the 1999 quarter. The 32% increase in revenue reflected strong growth from the US Electric segment, that was driven by continued customer growth and warmer than normal weather related sales, according to the company.
10/26/2000 -- Market watch, Oct. 26
Crude oil rose more than 2%, its biggest gain in 4 days, amid reports Iraq may suspend its oil exports next week if the United Nations doesn't allow Iraq to make payments for oil in euros instead of dollars, the Bloomberg newswire reported Thursday.
10/26/2000 -- BP, Ford to help fund CO₂ mitigation study
BP announced Wednesday it has provided a 10-year, $15 million grant to Princeton University to study methods of mitigating carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels. Ford Motor Co. is also providing a $5 million grant to the study.
10/25/2000 -- CMS Energy gets favorable Michigan PUC ruling
CMS Energy Corp. got some favorable breaks from the Michigan Public Service Commission Wednesday when it received approval to securitize $469 million in stranded electricity assets and received the right to average current higher gas costs with cheaper stored gas in its gas distribution business. CMS will issue bonds by the end of the year to cover the $469 million.
10/25/2000 -- Pakistan's biggest private power company posts loss
Hub Power Co., Pakistan's largest private power producer, said it set aside 13.4 billion rupees against potential losses in its ongoing tariff dispute with the government. Hubco has been fighting the tariff dispute with Pakistan Water Development Authority since 1997. Gen Musharraf's government has vowed several times to resolve the row, which has badly shaken investor confidence.
10/25/2000 -- Reliant executive calls for a 'benchmark' price in California
Setting a 'benchmark price' of 7.5�/kw-hr for retail electricity rates would help resolve problems in the California market, say executives at Reliant Energy Inc., one of several big power wholesalers in the state. It would provide an incentive to recover power expenses for utilities, keep electric bills stable and reasonable for consumers, encourage new generation, and reduce the volatility on the spot market, says John Stout, Reliant Energy vice-president, asset commercialization.
10/25/2000 -- Reliant posts 37% third quarter increase, projects flat 2001
Reliant Energy Inc. said Wednesday third-quarter earnings jumped 37% to $389 million or $1.34/diluted shares, as the company benefited from high electricity prices and strong demand in California this summer and strong demand in its headquarters city of Houston. In a conference call with analysts, company executives projected earnings for the full year will be $2.85-$2.95/share and that earnings for 2001 will be flat, compared to 2000.
10/25/2000 -- Market watch, Oct. 25
Talk of production increases by the conference president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries gave international energy futures markets a mild case of the jitters Tuesday.
10/24/2000 -- Weatherford to acquire large stake in Universal Compression
Houston-based Weatherford International Inc. said Tuesday it has agreed to acquire a 48% interest in Universal Compression Inc., Houston, through a merger of Weatherford Global Compression Services with Universal. The resulting company will retain the name Universal Compression Services. Weatherford said the company will be the world's second largest compression services company, with 1.8 million hp of compression capacity.
10/24/2000 -- Con Ed says NU merger conditions raise 'serious' doubts
Consolidated Edison Inc. says it is reviewing its options in light of restrictions imposed by Connecticut state regulators in their approval of the company's proposed acquisition of Northeast Utilities. In a brief statement Monday, Con Ed said conditions imposed by the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control call into 'serious question whether the transaction will be completed.' Tuesday, a company spokesman said it will have no further comment for the time being.
10/24/2000 -- Market watch, Oct. 24
Political tensions in the Middle East kept pushing up international energy futures prices Monday as the US Department of Energy outlined its plan for emergency winter sales of home heating oil.
10/24/2000 -- Guangdong Electric acquires power plant
China�s economic power house of Guangdong province in southern China has begun a campaign to privatize power plants in the province. In the latest acquisition, Guangdong Electric Power Development Co. Ltd. (GED), purchased a power plant for 1.5 billion yuan from the government-owned Guandong Power Bureau in mid-October.
10/23/2000 -- Constellation Energy shares up on split proposal
Constellation Energy Group Inc.'s common shares jumped almost 15% or 5 7/8 points by noon today on news that the company would split into two separate publicly traded entities by late 2001. Under the proposal, Constellation will keep its merchant energy business, including its wholesale power marketing unit, and spinoff its utility Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. and the energy services company into a separate company to be called BGE Corp.
10/23/2000 -- General Electric, Honeywell forge $45 billion deal
Honeywell International Inc. is merging with General Electric Co. through a stock-swap valued at $45 billion, plus another $3 billion in assumed debt. That acquisition, the biggest ever for GE, was hammered out over the weekend, company officials said Monday.
10/23/2000 -- Reliant proposal 'extreme unbundling'
After Reliant Energy Inc. splits into two separately traded companies�one regulated, one not�there will be little left but the wires and transmission system of what consumers knew in Houston of the regulated utility known as Reliant HL&P. Reliant�s version of the division is termed by Steve Schaeffer, executive vice-president of Reliant Energy, as 'extreme unbundling.'

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