Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Gold/Mining/Energy : KERM'S KORNER -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (14546)	12/29/1998 8:49:00 PM
From: Herb Duncan	Respond to of 15196

CORP / Sterne Stackhouse Inc. Announces Landmark Agreement with Petroleum Information/Dwights Canada Ltd. - IHS Energy Group, Denver, Colorado ASE SYMBOL: SSX DECEMBER 29, 1998 CALGARY, ALBERTA--Sterne Stackhouse Inc. ("SSI") announces that it has just executed a landmark Strategic Exclusive Joint Sales Agreement with Petroleum Information/Dwights Canada Ltd. ("PIDC"). As a result, PIDC becomes SSI's sales partner to the Canadian petroleum industry, with exclusive rights to SSI's Petro-LAB (TM) application suite of software for the sum of $1,000,000, in Canadian funds, paid up-front to SSI. IHS Energy Group of Denver, Colorado owns PIDC, and is in the business of acquiring and marketing, on a global basis, the best oil and gas data repositories available for sale and distribution. The main thrust of this agreement is to simplify and streamline the "Open-Systems" delivery of Canadian oil and gas related information to the desktop. The exclusive combination of Petro-LAB(TM), SSI's industry leading query and retrieval software, with PIDC's extensive suite of oil and gas related data is unprecedented. Further, this agreement also contemplates the purchase of another leading Canadian petroleum data company by IHS, yet to be announced. Users can now satisfy their data and software requirements with a single supplier relationship. In the past, the management of multiple supplier relationships has been unnecessarily complex, costly, and inefficient. This agreement will result in cost savings, better service, and improved on-line data delivery to users. In this regard, PIDC and SSI have taken delivery of a Compaq AlphaServer GS 140 with 12 gigabytes of RAM. It supports Oracle's Very Large Memory (VLM) capabilities, and ensures the fastest response times imaginable. The agreement is for 3 years, with a PIDC option to renew thereafter. It creates a single, blended price for the software and the data, as well as a single product agreement between SSI, PIDC, and the client. Revenues for joint sales are split 50/50 between SSI and PIDC. All existing contractual obligations of both SSI and PIDC will be honoured and "grandfathered". Initially, SSI and PIDC will be jointly responsible to clients, with SSI providing the lead in software installation, training, and support. However, this agreement allows PIDC to elect to become the exclusive distributor for Petro-LAB(TM) by taking over responsibility for software sales, installation, training and support. Ongoing product development will continue to be SSI's focus and responsibility. This agreement allows SSI to materially improve its oil and gas initiatives while providing the capital and the resources to aggressively develop its Labrador(R) initiative. SSI has just released the first Java version of Labrador(R) to enable the modelling and retrieval of data stored in relational databases for any industry. SSI is currently negotiating the use of Java Labrador(R) outside of the petroleum sector. Sterne Stackhouse Inc. is a Canadian software development company, which has been specializing in data retrieval technology for business since 1981. The company launched the Labrador(R) (Retriever) project in early 1993. The company has two major business thrusts. One is to use the Labrador(R) technology to create an application suite of products for oil and gas companies, called Petro-LAB(TM). The other is to use the Labrador(R) technology as a generic data retriever in other vertical markets such as health care or finance. PI/Dwights is an IHS Energy Group company, based in Denver and Houston. It produces the most complete and comprehensive proprietary databases of information from more than 2.9 million oil and gas wells. Most major and independent oil companies active in North America and the North Sea rely on PI/Dwights for oil and gas exploration and production information solutions.

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (14546)	12/29/1998 8:50:00 PM
From: Herb Duncan	Respond to of 15196

SERVICE SECTOR / Delaney Energy Services Corp. ("Delaney") Announces Completion of Reverse Takeover With Potential Technologies Inc. ("Potential") ASE SYMBOL: DLY DECEMBER 29, 1998 CALGARY, ALBERTA--At the Annual and Special Meeting of shareholders of Potential held on October 13, 1998, shareholders voted to approve the acquisition of all the issued and outstanding Class A shares of Delaney, pursuant to a securities exchange takeover bid. Approval was also obtained to change the corporate name of Potential to Delaney Energy Services Inc. (the "Corporation"), and for the consolidation of its common shares on a three-for-one basis. After the consolidation and the completion of the Corporation's Major Transaction, the Corporation will have 11,294,117 common shares issued and outstanding. On November 10, 1998, Potential completed the acquisition of 97.3 percent of the issued and outstanding Class A shares of Delaney have tendered those shares under the offer to purchase made by the Corporation. It is expected that the remaining shareholders of Delaney will tender their Class A shares under the offer to purchase and failing that the Corporation will exercise its rights under the compulsory acquisition provisions of the Alberta Business Corporations Act. Once all of the Class A shares of Delaney have been tendered, the Corporation and Delaney will amalgamate under the name of Delaney Energy Services Corporation. As of the commencement of trading on December 30, 1998 the common shares of the Corporation will trade under the name Delaney Energy Services Inc. under the symbol "DLY". Concurrent with the closing of this transaction, Kevin Delaney, Gordon Dibb, Harold Allsopp, Louis Schneider, Thomas Chadwick, Randy Clark and Robert Leach will be directors of the Corporation. Kevin Delaney is the President and CEO and Reginald Derksen is the Chief Financial Officer and Secretary-Treasurer. Delaney Energy Services Inc. is an integrated service company serving the western Canadian oil and gas industry. The Corporation provides its services through three divisions: Chadco Canada Ltd., manufacturer of wellsite process facilities; Production Testing Division, provider of production testing from its offices in Grande Prairie and Calgary; and Elite Petroleum Consulting, provider of pressure transient analysis and testing supervision services.

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (14546)	12/29/1998 8:54:00 PM
From: Herb Duncan	Respond to of 15196

CORP / Notice of Acquisition of Common Shares of Summit Resources Limited TSE SYMBOL: SUI DECEMBER 29, 1998 Notice of Acquisition of Common Shares of Summit Resources Limited San Diego, California--The Insurance Company of the West ("ICW") today announced pursuant to Section 141 of the Securities Act (Alberta) and similar legislation in other provinces that on December 23, 1998 it acquired 2,436,800 common shares of Summit Resources Limited ("Summit"). ICW is a company controlled by Ernest S. Rady and, following this acquisition, Mr. Rady, together with the persons acting jointly and in concert with Mr. Rady, exercised ownership of or control and direction over an aggregate of 18,000,770 common shares, constituting 53.87 percent of the issued and outstanding common shares of Summit. The acquisition was completed on December 23, 1998 and took place in the open market through the facilities of The Toronto Stock Exchange. The shares were acquired in the ordinary course of business. There is no present intention of either ICW, Mr. Rady, any other persons acting jointly and in concert with Mr. Rady or the persons over which Mr. Rady exercises control to increase their beneficial ownership of common shares of Summit other than through future acquisitions in the ordinary course of business.

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (14546)	12/29/1998 10:47:00 PM
From: Kerm Yerman	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 15196

SERVICE SECTOR / Mullen Transportation Inc. Purchases Remaining 60% of Mill Creek ALDERSYDE, Dec. 29 /CNW/ - Mullen Transportation Inc. (MTI) announced today that it has executed an agreement for the purchase of the balance of the issued and outstanding shares in Mill Creek Inc. (Mill Creek) from the original shareholders of Mill Creek, for cash and Retractable Convertible Preferred Shares (Preferred Shares) in MTI. The Toronto Stock Exchange (Exchange) has conditionally approved the listing of the common shares of MTI issuable upon the conversion of the Preferred Shares, subject to MTI complying with the ordinary listing requirements of the Exchange. The transaction is scheduled to close and will be effective January 1, 1999, resulting in MTI owning 100% of Mill Creek. MTI originally acquired a 40% interest in Mill Creek on July 30, 1998. Since that date Mill Creek and MTI have jointly marketed their trucking and logistic services throughout North America and worked closely to benchmark best business practices in all areas of the business. ''Our original investment in Mill Creek has exceeded our expectations'', said Murray Mullen, President and C.E.O of MTI. ''Mill Creek is an outstanding company which I expect will serve as another growth platform for MTI. The economies of eastern Canada and the United States continue to show signs of strength and Mill Creek will enhance MTI's opportunities to participate in these growth markets.'' Mill Creek, based in Cambridge, Ontario, is one of Canada's leading trucking companies operating approximately 250 Company owned trucks and 550 air ride logistic van type trailers, generating annual revenues in excess of $60 million. Mill Creek, through its subsidiary companies, specializes in the transportation of less-than-truckload (LTL) and truckload general freight to all major centres in the United States, Canada and to Mexico via inter-line arrangements, utilizing state-of-the-art computer and satellite technology. Mill Creek is the recipient of several industry and customer service awards including the prestigious 1995 Gold Award of Excellence from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation. Mill Creek will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of MTI under the leadership and guidance of Mr. David Hopps, one of the original shareholders of Mill Creek. Mr. Phil Henning, the founder of Mill Creek, has chosen to pursue other interests outside of trucking but will remain as an advisor to Mill Creek. Mullen Transportation Inc. is a broad-based transportation holding company that provides management and financial expertise, technology and systems support to its subsidiaries. The Company manages a network of carrier companies and is recognized as one of the largest providers of trucking and logistics services in Canada now operating a fleet of over 1,000 trucks and 2,000 trailers, many of which are highly specialized. Through its subsidiary companies, MTI has operations that cover North America offering a wide range of specialized transportation services. MTI's business is structured into four divisions - Truckload, Oilfield Services, Specialized Services, and Regional L.T.L. - that are differentiated by the type of commodities transported, the kind of equipment utilized, and customer service requirements. The Company is also the single largest transporter of oilfield drilling equipment in Canada. Mullen Transportation Inc. is a publicly traded company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol ''MTL''.

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (14546)	12/29/1998 10:52:00 PM
From: Kerm Yerman	Respond to of 15196

SERVICE SECTOR / Arcis Corp. Signs Agreement To Purchase Chevron Seismic Data Base CALGARY, Dec. 29 /CNW/ - (RKS-TSE) - Arcis Corporation announced today that it has reached an agreement in principle with Chevron Canada Resources for the purchase of a significant portion of Chevron's 100 percent owned 2D seismic database in Western Canada. The database, one of the largest in Western Canada, is comprised of 123,563 kilometers of proprietary 2D seismic data. The Letter Agreement calls for the purchase to close by March 31, 1999 and is subject to certain conditions such as Arcis obtaining financing for the entire purchase price. For competitive reasons, Arcis and Chevron have agreed to keep the purchase price confidential. Since 1994, Chevron has generated average annual net revenues of approximately $9 million from sales of the database, despite the fact that Chevron has historically rejected requests to sell additional data. The database covers the following areas: British Columbia - northeast and Foothills Alberta - northwest, north, central, southern, Peace River Arch, Foothills Saskatchewan - southwest and southeast Arcis believes the database should not only generate data brokerage sales for the Company, but should result in additional opportunities for both processing and re-processing of the data. Arcis Corporation is a uniquely integrated geophysical services company which processes, archives, brokers and manages seismic data as well as provides five field acquisition crews to shoot exclusive and non exclusive seismic data. It is the Company's objective to create a large proprietary seismic data library in the next five years.

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (14546)	12/29/1998 10:55:00 PM
From: Kerm Yerman	Respond to of 15196

FIELD ACTIVITIES / Raptor Capital Corp Announces Current Drilling Operations CALGARY, Dec. 29 /CNW/ - Mr. Ian McMurtrie, President of Raptor, announces that the Company is drilling the third of a three-well drilling program at Norris Alberta. The Raptor et al Norris 4-27-53-18-W4M well was spudded December 28, 1998 and is expected to reach total depth by December 31, 1998. The first two wells, Raptor et al Norris 1-28-53-18-W4M and Raptor et al Norris 13-22-53-18-W4M, have been cased as potential oil wells. Raptor has an average working interest in the wells of 68% before payout and 48% after payout.

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (14546)	12/29/1998 11:02:00 PM
From: Kerm Yerman	Respond to of 15196

CORP ANNOUNCEMENT / Commonwealth Energy Corp. Investor relations COMMONWEALTH ENERGY CORP. RETAINS MR. DOUG WOLTERS TO PROVIDE INVESTOR RELATIONS SERVICES WHITE ROCK, B.C.-- Commonwealth Energy Corp. is pleased to announce that it has agreed to retain Mr. Doug Wolters to provide investor relations services to the Corporation. These services will be in addition to other ongoing duties he performs for the Corporation. Compensation under the agreement will be in accordance with the policies of The Alberta Stock Exchange and will include stock options to obtain common shares of the Corporation.

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (14546)	12/29/1998 11:04:00 PM
From: Kerm Yerman	Respond to of 15196

ASE BULLETIN / Delisting - Niko Resources Ltd. CALGARY, Dec. 29 /CNW/ - BULLETIN NO.: 9812 - 761 DELISTING NIKO RESOURCES LTD. (NKO) The common shares of Niko Resources Ltd. will be delisted at the close of business on THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1998 at the request of the Company. The common shares of the Company will continue to trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (14546)	12/29/1998 11:06:00 PM
From: Kerm Yerman	Respond to of 15196

ASE BULLETIN / Delisting - Ionic Energy Inc. CALGARY, Dec. 29 /CNW/ - BULLETIN NO.: 9812-762 DELISTING IONIC ENERGY INC. (IOI) The common shares of Ionic Energy Inc. will be delisted at the close of business on THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1998 at the request of the Company. The common shares of the Company will continue to trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (14546)	12/29/1998 11:08:00 PM
From: Kerm Yerman	Respond to of 15196

ENERGY TRUSTS / Orion Energy Trust January 1, 1999 Engineering Report Information CALGARY, Dec. 29 /CNW/ - OET.un - TSE - Orion Energy Holdings Inc. announced today that it is in receipt of its January 1, 1999 independent engineering report, commissioned in October of this year, from Gilbert Laustsen Jung Associates Ltd. Established reserves (proved plus half probable) at January 1, 1999 are 21.9 million barrels of oil equivalent (''BOE'') up 8.7% over year-end 1997. More importantly, proved reserves are up 14.1% reflective of the Ansell acquisition and of successful development of additional new reserves and conversion of probable reserves to proved reserves. Production for 1999 is projected at 5,041 BOE per day, up 8.8% from expected 1998 average production of 4,632 BOE per day. Reserve Life Index using 1999 expected production is 11.9 years up 7.2% from 11.1 years at year-end 1997. Cash distributions for 1999 are estimated at $0.97 per Unit using a projected crude oil price of US $13.50 WTI and a natural gas price of $2.30 per mcf. Griffiths McBurney & Partners', Financial Advisors to Orion's Independent Special Committee, preliminary view of the PrimeWest offer is that it is unfair from a financial point of view, dilutive to cash distributions to Unitholders and there is no meaningful strategic benefit to Orion from a combination of PrimeWest and Orion. Orion Energy Trust is an open ended conventional oil and gas royalty trust trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol OET.UN, with offices located in Calgary, Alberta and in Montreal, Quebec.

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (14546)	12/29/1998 11:12:00 PM
From: Kerm Yerman	Respond to of 15196

ENERGY TRUSTS / PrimeWest Energy Trust Road Show Regarding Offer to Purchase Starcor Energy Royalty Fund and Orion Energy Trust CALGARY, Dec. 29 /CNW/ - Kent MacIntyre, Vice Chairman and CEO of PrimeWest Energy, invites you to attend a timely luncheon information session regarding PrimeWest's outstanding offers to purchase Starcor Energy Royalty Fund and Orion Energy Trust. Kent MacIntyre will give a brief, visually supported presentation which will provide insight into the rationale for and benefits underlying PrimeWest Energy Trust's offers to purchase Starcor and Orion. Sufficient time will be provided to meet with and direct questions to the company's officers. The presentations will take place during the first week of January 1999 in the following cities: Monday - January 4, 1999 Calgary Viking Room, Calgary Petroleum Club, 319- 5th Ave SW 11:45 AM local time Tuesday - January 5, 1999 Vancouver Cortes Island Room, Hotel Vancouver, 900 West Georgia St 11:45 AM local time Wednesday - January 6, 1999 Montreal Vice Royal Room, Ritz Carlton Hotel, 1228 rue Sherbrooke Ouest 11:45 AM local time Thursday - January 7, 1999 Toronto Tom Thompson Room - Toronto Hilton, 145 Richmond St West 11:45 AM local time Those interested in attending any of these presentations can register by contacting Energy Communications no later than 8:00 AM on the day of the particular presentation to be attended. Energy Communications Phone (403) 543-4080 Fax 1-800-832-8281 (Calgary fax 266-6027) Summary of Offers PrimeWest offers to purchase on the basis of: 1.207 PrimeWest Units for each of 9.2 million Starcor Energy Royalty Fund Units 0.968 PrimeWest Units for each of 14.1 million Orion Energy Trust Units Offers open to acceptance until 11:59 p.m. (Calgary time) on January 12, 1999 Solicitation Fees Per Starcor/Orion Unit Transmittal: $0.05 Subject to a: minimum of: $85 per beneficial holder maximum of: $1,500 per beneficial holder The minimum solicitation fee will only be payable in respect of deposits of Starcor/Orion Units greater than or equal to 500 units. No solicitation fees will be payable for deposits of less than 500 Starcor/Orion Units. No solicitation fees will be paid for improperly completed Letters of Transmittal. No solicitation shall be made by Soliciting Dealer Group members in the United States of America or of any U.S. persons. To qualify, the soliciting dealer's name must appear in the space indicated on the Letter of Transmittal which, along with the certificates representing the Starcor/Orion Units, must be properly deposited with Montreal Trust Company of Canada.