• Newfield Exploration Co. is buying producing gas assets in South Texas from an undisclosed seller for $142 million. The Houston independent will fund the purchase with cash and borrowings under its revolving credit facility. It estimates that it will have about $100 million of unused borrowing capacity after the transaction closes. About 90% of the reserves that Newfield is acquiring is gas. The three fields in Hidalgo, Brooks and Kennedy counties currently producing about 75 million cu. ft. of gas equivalent per day; about 35 million cu. ft. equivalent will be net to Newfield. The company will operate two of the three fields and has identified several locations on the acreage that will be drilled this year. "For some time, we have been looking for the right acquisition that would grow our South Texas focus area," Newfield president David A. Trice indicated. "This deal will increase our 2000 gas production significantly and provide cash flow to help fund our growing onshore U.S. Gulf Coast drilling program." • NiSource Inc., Merriville, Ind., will acquire Columbia Energy Group, Herndon, Va., in a stock and debt-assumption deal valued at $8.5 billion. • EnerMark Income Fund, Calgary, will acquire Pursuit Resources Corp., Calgary, for C$114.5 million in trust units and cash. In addition, EnerMark will assume C$35 million in debt. The acquisition will bring EnerMark 14.2 million BOE in total proved reserves, about 60% of which is gas. CIBC World Markets Inc. advised EnerMark. In a separate deal, EnerMark will acquire a gas property from an affiliate of a major Canadian pension fund for C$34.5 million in cash and trust units. The property, which is in Hanna, Alberta, is currently producing 9 million cu. ft. of gas per day, and has 92 billion cu. ft. of gas equivalent in proved reserves. • Questar Corp., Salt Lake City, through its Canadian subsidiary, Celsius Energy Resources Ltd., has acquired Canor Energy Ltd., Calgary, from NI Canada ULC, a subsidiary of Northwest Natural Gas Co., based in Portland, Ore., for C$87.5 million. The acquisition brings Celsius the ownership and/or operatorship of more than 800 wells primarily in Alberta. Canor's proven reserves are estimated at 61.1 billion cu. ft. equivalent and probable reserves at 6.2 billion cu. ft. equivalent. Additionally, Canor has about 150,000 net undeveloped acres mostly in Alberta, and a substantial seismic inventory. • Cross Timbers Oil Co., Fort Worth, will sell primarily gas-producing properties in Crockett County, Texas, to a private placement company for $43 million. Daily production averages 9.5 million cu. ft. of gas and 160 bbl. of oil from 298 wells. • Energy Search Inc., Knoxville, Tenn., will acquire approximately 8,090 acres of properties from Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. in Raleigh County, W.Va. The properties include 46 producing wells and related gas gathering equipment. • 3Tec Energy Corp., Houston, has acquired Magellan Exploration LLC, also of Houston, for stock and stock purchase warrants. Magellan's assets include properties in the Breton Sound, Bay de Chene and Garden City fields in South Louisiana. Total net proved reserves have been estimated at 26.7 billion cu. ft. equivalent with a PV-10 value of $40.1 million, using pricing of $2.48 per million cu. ft. for gas and $24.20 per bbl. for oil. The acquisition also includes a gas gathering system. • Adair International Oil & Gas Inc., Houston, has acquired Partners In Exploration Inc., a Dallas-based exploration company whose name will subsequently change to Adair Exploration Inc. As a result, Adair will become the sole owner in exploration Block 20 in Yemen, which was recently jointly signed by Adair and Partners In Exploration. Additionally, the acquisition makes Adair a public company. • Affiliated Resources Corp., Houston, has acquired an 85% interest in Seneca Energy Partners LP in a stock-for-partnership-unit transaction. Under the agreement, Lonestar Investment Management LLC, Seneca's general partner, will exchange 85% of Seneca's limited partnership units for 800,000 shares of Affiliated common stock and an irrevocable option to purchase 425,000 shares of Affiliated common stock for 10 cents each. Furthermore, under the agreement, Lonestar, which retains a 1% interest in the limited partnership, will continue to manage Seneca. Current limited partners, Jay R. Beatty and Michael R. Bradle, will retain the remaining 14% interest. • Bargo Energy Co., Houston, is selling its East Texas Field (Turnertown) property to Basa Resources Inc. for an undisclosed sum. The field is currently producing approximately 400 bbl. of oil per day. • Burlington Resources Inc., Houston, and EOG Resources Inc., also of Houston, have agreed to an asset swap. Each company is putting up 40 billion cu. ft. of gas or 6.5 million bbl. of oil. EOG will receive Burlington properties in southeastern New Mexico and West Texas as it consolidates operations in the Permian Basin. Burlington will receive properties, mostly gas, in northwestern Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle. • Nutek Oil Inc., a subsidiary of Nutek Inc., Huntington Beach, Calif., acquires Clipper Operating Co. Nutek Oil Inc. will be the new operating company in Texas and will begin reworking 50 of the 90 wells acquired in the purchase. "This is a major development for the company as we are acquiring approximately $1.4 million in assets and 10.8 million bbl. in recoverable reserves. At current oil prices, this translates into $280 million. Once we have reworked all the existing wells we will then commence the 18-month project of drilling 20 new wells," said Murray Conradie, Nutek CEO. • Consol Energy Inc., Pittsburgh, will acquire southwestern Virginia gas production and pipeline properties from MCN Energy Group Inc. for approximately $169 million in cash. The acquired assets include Buchanan Production Co., MCNIC Oakwood Gathering Inc., and an MCN subsidiary that owns a 50% interest in the Cardinal States Gathering Co. Buchanan Production produces more than 70 million cu. ft. per day of pipeline-quality methane gas from more than 350 wells. Consol Energy subsidiaries currently operate the wells. BPC is estimated to hold 276 billion cu. ft. equivalent of proved, long-lived coalbed methane gas reserves. • Paladin Energy Partners LLC has acquired properties from Union Pacific Resources Co. in Wyoming and Nebraska. The deal includes operated and nonoperated interests in 50 wells, a gas plant, a gathering system and a pipeline. • Pangea Petroleum Corp., Houston, will acquire a 5% interest in the Richardson Deep Discovery Mepus Hamilton No. 1 gas prospect in Duval County, Texas, from privately held Clay Exploration. The well has 7 billion cu. ft. equivalent of gas in proven reserves and more than 15 billion cu. ft. equivalent of gas in probable reserves. In addition, the agreement contains an option for an additional 45% interest in the project. • Petroglyph Energy Inc., Hutchinson, Kan., plans to acquire producing properties from III Exploration Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Intermountain Industries Inc., an affiliate of Petroglyph. To complete the deal, Petroglyph will issue 250,000 shares of Series A convertible preferred stock. • Prize Energy Corp., Dallas, and Vista Energy Resources Inc. have merged, creating a midsize independent with assets in excess of $450 million. Vista has changed its name to Prize Energy Corp. and its American Stock Exchange listing to PRZ. As a combined company, Prize has total proved reserves of approximately 279 billion cu. ft. of gas equivalent and 49.6 million bbl. of liquids, or 96 million BOE. • Wyoming Oil & Minerals Inc., Casper, Wyo., is buying an undivided 25% working interest in the Slater Dome and Coal Bank Draw prospects being explored and developed by Colorado-based Skyline Resources Inc. The project is on the east edge of the greater Green River Basin in Carbon County, Wyo. The primary target is coalbed methane. • Best Pacific Resources Ltd., Calgary, is selling properties in southeastern Saskatchewan to an unnamed purchaser for C$28 million. The divested properties include production of about 1,000 BOE per day. The company plans to use proceeds to reduce its debt. • Canadian Blackhawk Energy Inc., Calgary, is acquiring a producing property in central Alberta for C$1.7 million. The property is currently producing 780,000 cu. ft. of gas per day. • Courage Energy Inc., Calgary, will acquire an interest in producing wells and facilities in the Peace River Arch area of northern Alberta for C$13.5 million. The acquisition will increase Courage's daily production by more than 3 million cu. ft. of gas per day, immediately. The property will be operated by Courage, which will hold a 55% working interest. Proved reserves are estimated to be 14.1 billion cu. ft. equivalent. • Fox Energy Corp., Calgary, will acquire a nonoperated interest in producing wells and facilities on a property in southern Alberta for C$1.5 million. The acquired properties are currently producing approximately 95 BOE per day net to Fox. • Hoodoo Hydrocarbons Ltd. has acquired nonoperated working interests in light-oil production, reserves and land for C$1 million. The properties are producing 55 bbl. per day of light oil. Proven reserves are estimated at 80,000 bbl. • Newquest Energy Inc., Calgary, is acquiring Ranchero Oil & Gas Ltd. for stock. Jennings Capital Inc. advised Newquest. • PanAtlas Energy Inc., Calgary, has purchased producing properties near Drumheller, Alberta, for C$3.75 million. Net operated production is 250 BOE per day. Proven reserves are estimated at 500,000 BOE. • Promax Energy Inc., Calgary, has acquired a 75% working interest in leases in the Cessford area of Alberta from Starrock Resources Ltd. for C$8 million in cash and stock. • Richland Petroleum Corp., Calgary, will acquire an additional 20% working interest in the Paddle River unit, which it already operates, bringing its interest in the unit to 70%. Separately, Richland has acquired working interests in properties in the Lodgepole/Brazeau area from an unnamed seller for C$6.2 million. The properties include about 13,800 acres of undeveloped land and a 14.5% working interest in a 30-million-cu.-ft.-per-day gas plant. • Taparko Capital Corp., Toronto, will acquire privately held Charpet Resources Ltd., Edmonton, for stock. Charpet currently produces 36 bbl. of oil and 45,000 cu. ft. of gas per day from 7.5 net wells. • Calgary-based Thunder Energy Inc. will acquire an additional 10% working interest in the Rosalind, Matziwin and Manola properties, bringing its total operated working interest in the areas to 60%. The deal includes proven reserves of 592,000 bbl. of liquids and 8.5 billion cu. ft. of gas. The properties are currently producing an estimated 145 bbl. of liquids and 2.2 million cu. ft. of gas per day. • ReQuest Seismic Surveys Ltd., Calgary, will acquire the seismic data of Apache Canada Ltd., a subsidiary of Apache Corp., Houston. The data is primarily that which Apache acquired with the purchase of Shell Canada Ltd.'s Plains business unit. Apache Canada will retain access to the data and obtain access to additional seismic data in ReQuest's Canadian seismic-data library. Apache Canada also will receive a cash consideration. Both parties have agreed to keep the purchase price confidential. • Raymond J. Deacon has joined Dain Rauscher Wessels, Dallas, a division of Dain Rauscher Inc., as an E&P equity research analyst on its energy research team. Deacon was an E&P analyst with Southcoast Capital in New Orleans and Houston. • Jay Saunders has joined the Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown global equity oil team, working out of its Baltimore office. Previously, Saunders worked for Energy Intelligence Group. • Bob Morris, E&P analyst for PaineWebber Inc. in New York, has moved to Salomon Smith Barney, where he continues coverage of large-cap independents. • Dick Cheney has reassumed the position of chairman of Halliburton Co., Dallas, which he left in 1998 upon the merger of Halliburton and Dresser Industries Inc. Cheney will maintain his current position as CEO. William Bradford is retiring as chairman of Halliburton. • Michael V. Ronca has resigned as chief operating officer and a director of Range Resources Co., Fort Worth. At press time, Ronca and the company had not reached an agreement on the financial terms of his departure, and a suit may result, Range reported. • Input/Output Inc, Houston, has hired Tim Probert, former president of Baker Hughes' Inteq division, to the position of president and chief executive officer. • R.A. Pattarozzi, recently retired president of Shell Offshore Inc. and a leader of Shell's pursuit of deepwater exploration and production, has been named to the board of drilling company R&B Falcon Corp., Houston. • Bruce S. Appelbaum has been elected vice president of Texaco Inc., White Plains, N.Y., and appointed president of worldwide exploration and new ventures. Appelbaum led Texaco's recent billion-barrrel Agbami discovery offshore Nigeria. • Carroll W. Suggs, chairman, CEO and president of Petroleum Helicopters Inc., Lafayette, La., has been named to the board of Global Marine Inc., Houston. • Morrison C. Bethea, Gabrielle Kirk McDonald and J. Taylor Wharton are named to the board of McMoRan Exploration Co., New Orleans. Kathleen L. Quirk is named vice president of finance and business development. Craig E. Saporito, senior vice president and treasurer, has retired. • Bruce W. Busmire is named vice president of investor relations at Ocean Energy Inc., Houston. • Robert M. Devlin is elected a director of Phillips Petroleum Co., Bartlesville, Okla. Devlin is chairman, president and chief executive officer of American General Corp. • Bruce F. Longaker Jr. is named executive vice president of Weatherford International Inc., Houston, and president of Weatherford Global Compression Services. • Curtis W. Huff is named executive vice president and CFO of Weatherford International. Huff previously served the company as a senior vice president and general counsel. Robert Stiles, senior vice president of Weatherford and president of Weatherford Global Compression Services, has left the company. • Larry Shaben resigns from the board of Flotek Industries Inc., Houston. John W. Chisholm has been elected to the board. Chisholm is a cofounder and president of ProTechnics International Inc. Jackson L. Nash has been named Flotek CFO. • Michael P. Keirnan resigns as vice president and CFO of Houston-based Grant Geophysical Inc. • Gerald N. Agranoff has resigned as vice president, treasurer and a director of American Energy Group Ltd., Houston. Georg von Canal of Stephanskirchen, Germany, has been appointed to the board. • Thomas L. Easley has resigned as CFO of Boots & Coots International Well Control Inc., Houston. Easley will continue as a director of the company. • Thomas Hogan has resigned from the board of Castleguard Energy Inc., Dallas. • William H. Gibbons has been named treasurer and assistant secretary of Contango Oil & Gas Co., Houston. • Gerald B. Faudell was appointed vice president of corporate relations at Frontier Oil Corp., Houston. • Gordon Hoover is named to the board at Gresham Resources Inc. • C. Park Shaper is named vice president and CFO of Kinder Morgan Inc., Houston. David Dehaemers, previously CFO, has been named vice president of corporate development. • Stephen Adshead has joined the board of Marine Shuttle Operations Inc., Houston. Adshead will continue as managing director of Marine Shuttle Operations AS, the Norway-based subsidiary. • Burl Aycock retires from his position as executive chairman of Maxx Petroleum Ltd., Calgary. Aycock will continue as nonexecutive chairman. • John U. Clarke, executive vice president of Dynegy Inc., is named to the board of Natco Group Inc., Houston. • Jim Riddell is named to the board of Peyto Exploration and Development Corp., Calgary. Riddell is the chief operating officer at Paramount Resources Ltd., Calgary. • Grant H. Grimsrud is named to the board of Prairie Pacific Energy Corp., Calgary. • J.R. Clark is named vice president of finance and administration and secretary of Promax Energy Inc., Calgary. • Murray Sinclair is appointed to the board of Reserve Royalty Corp., Calgary. • Named to the board of RealAmerica Co., Dallas, are William L. Higgins III, president of Caspian Sea Ventures Co. Ltd.; Gary C. Fitzgerald, managing director of London-based institutional investor Framlington Emerging Markets; Luis Correa, managing director of Lisbon-based Catermar SA; and Theresa A. Kubitza, secretary/treasurer of RealAmerica. Higgins is also named executive vice president and COO.