Finance/Companies news briefs, Aug. 20

Aug. 20, 2001
Anadarko Petroleum ... Torch Offshore ... Energy Africa ... Heritage Oil ... Panhandle Royalty ... Wood Oil ... Harken Energy ... Parallel Petroleum ... Fortum ... Latvijas Gaze ... Cabot Oil & Gas ... Cody ... and more


Anadarko Petroleum Corp., Houston, has completed the $137 million acquisition of Canadian company Gulfstream Resources Canada Ltd., as announced in June (OGJ Online, June 25, 2001).

Torch Offshore Inc., Gretna, La., will repurchase up to $5 million in stock.

Energy Africa Ltd., Cape Town, has agreed to participate with 50% interest in Uganda Block 3 with Heritage Oil Corp., Calgary. Heritage will remain the operator. The companies will collect 200 km of 2D seismic in September, and later plan to drill.

Private company Panhandle Royalty Co., Oklahoma City, and Wood Oil Co., Tulsa, have agreed to merge. Wood will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Panhandle. Closing is expected Oct. 1. Purchase price is subject to preclosing agreements.

Harken Energy Corp., Irving, Tex., plans to repurchase up to $5 million of its stock.

Parallel Petroleum Corp., Midland, Tex., has budgeted $10 million for the next 12 months for drilling -- $6 million to participate in 30 Frio and Yegua wells and $4 million to participate in the drilling and testing of three Wilcox prospects.

Fortum Corp. has sold its 2% share in Latvian gas company AS Latvijas Gaze to an unnamed buyer.

Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., Houston, has completed its $181 million-plus 2 million-shares merger with Cody Co., the parent company of Cody Energy LLC (OGJ Online, June 21, 2001).

India's government-owned Oil & Natural Gas Corp. has put in a $400 million bid for Enron Inc.'s 30% equity stake in the Panna-Mukta and Tapti oil and gas fields. The offer was anticipated earlier this year (OGJ Online, Feb. 6, 2001). However, Enron is expected not to settle for anything less than $600 million for the stake.

Tengasco Inc., Knoxville, Tenn., and Penn Virginia Oil & Gas Corp., Radnor, Pa., have entered a 50:50 joint operating agreement to explore, drill, and develop a 57,300-acre area in East Tennessee and Southern Virginia. Penn Virginia is the operator.

Industrial Holdings Inc., Houston, signed letters of intent to sell its Engineered Products Group and its subsidiary Beaird Industries Inc. The buyer and purchase price were not disclosed. The dispositions are expected to close before Oct. 31.

Enron North America Corp. and Tarpon Operating & Development, LLC have formed a joint venture, Tarpon Offshore LP, to exploit low to medium risk oil and natural gas development projects in the Gulf of Mexico. The focus of the joint venture will be the exploitation of proved undeveloped reserves on the shelf and the Flextrend "slope" areas. A key component in the strategy of Tarpon Offshore, L.P. will be the expansion of the use of subsea technology in these areas.

Shiningbank Energy Management Inc., Calgary, has acquired a package of natural gas producing properties and undeveloped land in west-cental Alberta for $28.6 million from an unnamed seller. The properties include operated and non-operated interests in the Greencourt, Paddle River, Windfall, Glenevis and Bigoray areas of west-central Alberta, adjacent to Shiningbank's existing operations in the Whitecourt and Anselmo areas.

Kinder Morgan Inc. plans to repurchase $300 million of its common stock.

Canoro Resources Ltd., Calgary, has acquired a working interest in two gas properties and 15,000 additional acres in the Chambers area of western Alberta from Rosetta Exploration Inc. for $1 million (Can.). Following the transaction, Canoro sold a portion of its working interest to Aurado Exploration Ltd. Canoro's net interest in the wells is 4% and 3.5% respectively.

Chevron Corp. and Schlumberger Ltd. have formed a Lost Hills field "Value Enhancement Alliance" to improve recovery from the Lost Hills oil field discovered in 1910 in Kern County, Calif. This alliance pools the technical and scientific expertise of both companies in the search for new solutions specific to increasing the field's recovery and production.

Denbury Resources Inc., Dallas, has sold $75 million of subordinated notes in a private offering.

Norway has chosen UBS Warburg and DnB Markets as its financial advisers in the sale of about 6.5% of the value in the state's direct financial interest in the petroleum sector.

Methanex Corp., Vancouver, will repurchase up to $175 million of its common shares through a substantial issuer bid.

Weatherford International Inc., Houston, has acquired the artificial lift assets of Guiberson Well Service and Axelson from Halliburton Co. for an unnamed price.

The BZ Gruppe Holding AG announced that, directly and indirectly, it holds more than 10% of total votes of ABB Ltd., Zurich.

Gentry Resources Ltd., Calgary, plans to make a normal course issuer bid for up to 1.5 million of its common shares, or 10% of the public float.