From http://www.enerfaxgold.com :
 
Phillips Seeks Tax Help on AlaskaPipeline Project
 
    Phillips Petroleum says it is optimistic about a proposed 
pipeline that would transport natural gas from the North Slopeto 
Albertaon a route following the existing trans-Alaska oil pipeline 
and the Alaska Highway. The pipeline was authorized in the 1970s by 
the US and Canadian governments, but poor economics precluded 
commercialization. All three major Alaskaoil producers, Phillips, BP 
and Exxon Mobil, believe that new legislation is needed to update the 
Alaska Natural Gas Transportation System Act, which granted the 
initial permits for the project. The producers have also agreed to 
seek permission for accelerated depreciation on federal taxes. 
However, Phillips also wants a credit that would be applied if 
natural gas prices reach a designated floor such as $1.25 per MMBtu. 
The three major North Slopeoil producers have spent about $100 
million to study the feasibility of building an overland pipeline 
that would tie the North Slopeto existing facilities in Alberta. The 
pipeline project would run about 2000 miles would cost $15 billion - 
$20 billion. 
 
AlbertaEnergy and PanCanadian Consider Merger
  
    PanCanadian Energy Will buy Alberta Energy in a $16.8 billion 
share exchange deal which will create North America's largest oil 
exploration and production company, replacing Anadarko. The deal will 
allow the companies to compete effectively on a global basis. The new 
company, which is to be headquartered in Calgary, will be named 
EnCana Corp. The exchange ratio is a market-to-market ratio based on 
the average of the closing price for the 10 trading days ended 
January 23rd. PanCanadian shareholders will own about 54% and AEC 
shareholders will own about 46% of EnCana. Combined, the stocks of 
the two companies make up 44% of the TSE's oil and gas sub-index. 
Some say that Canadian companies have realized the need to bulk up in 
order to be competitive with larger companies in the US, like 
Anadarko, Burlington Resources and Devon Energy, and to attract 
investors. The deal could also be a self-protection measure in 
response to last year's rash of takeovers of Canadian oil firms by US 
companies, like those that took over Gulf Canada, Anderson
Exploration and Canadian Hunter. Alberta Energy and PanCanadian may 
have seen themselves as vulnerable to possible takeovers. PanCanadian 
had been considered a possible takeover target when it was spun off 
from Canadian Pacific in October. A new AEC-PanCanadian company would 
produce 255,000 bpd of oil and natural gas liquids and 2.5 Bcf of 
natural gas per day. PanCanadian has natural gas and oil production 
facilities in Western Canadaand offshore operations in Nova Scotia, 
the Gulf of Mexicoand North Sea, where it recently discovered the 
areas largest oil field in 10 years, named Buzzard. AEC also produces 
oil and natural gas in Western Canada, owns about 14% of the Syncrude 
Canadaoil sands project and has exploration, production, pipeline 
and natural gas storage units in the Rocky Mountains, Ecuadorand the 
Arctic. 
 
Bob Brooks
GPCM Natural Gas Market Forecasting Systemhttp://gpcm.rbac.com