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

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (14691)	1/7/1999 7:52:00 PM
From: Herb Duncan	Respond to of 15196

CORP / Canadian 88 Energy Corp. and Newport Petroleum Corporation Resolve Caroline Dispute TSE, ASE, AMEX SYMBOL: EEE JANUARY 7, 1999 CALGARY, ALBERTA--Canadian 88 Energy Corp. and Newport Petroleum Corporation have announced today that they have entered into a settlement agreement with respect to their joint lands in the Caroline Area. The agreement addresses all of the issues outstanding between the corporations, and establishes a mechanism for the withdrawal without costs of all legal actions pertaining to the dispute between the two corporations. The companies will be preparing a joint development plan for the Caroline Beaverhill Lake 'B' Pool for submission to the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (AEUB) in early January, 1999. This plan will detail the drilling sequence, testing plans and processing alternatives being considered by both companies. Both Canadian 88 and Newport will continue to actively participate in the Caroline Beaverhill Lake 'B' Pool Advisory Committee, which also has representatives from the AEUB, the Sundre Petroleum Operators Group, and the community. Included in the agreement is a division of operatorship of the lands. The corporations will establish a joint technical team to work together on all development matters including jointly assessing gas processing alternatives. This will lead to timely development and ultimate production from this very significant gas discovery. Canadian 88 Energy Corp. (EEE) is an independent public oil and gas company with head office in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The shares of Canadian 88 Energy Corp. are traded on the Toronto, Alberta and American Stock Exchanges.

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (14691)	1/7/1999 7:54:00 PM
From: Herb Duncan	Respond to of 15196

CORP / Newport Petroleum Corporation and Canadian 88 Energy Corp. Resolve Caroline Dispute TSE SYMBOL: NPP JANUARY 7, 1999 CALGARY, ALBERTA--NEWPORT PETROLEUM CORPORATION and Canadian 88 Energy Corp. have announced today that they have entered into a settlement agreement with respect to their joint lands in the Caroline Area. The agreement addresses all of the issues outstanding between the corporations, and establishes a mechanism for the withdrawal without costs of all legal actions pertaining to the dispute between the two corporations. The companies will be preparing a joint development plan for the Caroline Beaverhill Lake 'B' Pool for submission to the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (AEUB) in early January, 1999. This plan will detail the drilling sequence, testing plans and processing alternatives being considered by both companies. Both Newport and Canadian 88 will continue to actively participate in the Caroline Beaverhill Lake 'B' Pool Advisory Committee, which also has representatives from the AEUB, the Sundre Petroleum Operators Group, and the community. Included in the agreement is a division of operatorship of the lands. The corporations will establish a joint technical team to work together on all development matters including jointly assessing gas processing alternatives. This will lead to timely development and ultimate production from this very significant gas discovery.

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (14691)	1/7/1999 7:55:00 PM
From: Herb Duncan	Respond to of 15196

CORP / ZORIN Exploration Ltd. Announces Appointment of New Director ASE SYMBOL: ZEL JANUARY 7, 1999 CALGARY, ALBERTA--ZORIN EXPLORATION LTD. ("ASE - ZEL") is pleased to announce the appointment of John A. (Jack) Bolter to the Board of Directors. Mr. Bolter is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of Bolter Resource Consulting Ltd., a private oil and gas company based in Calgary, Alberta. Mr. Bolter holds a Bachelor of Science Degree (Honours) in Geology from the University of Manitoba. From 1987 to 1997, Mr. Bolter was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Pointer Exploration Corp. (TSE listed), which he started up as a junior capital pool corporation. Bolter Resource Consulting Ltd. is also an active joint venture partner with ZORIN in the Granlea area of south eastern Alberta.

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (14691)	1/7/1999 7:57:00 PM
From: Herb Duncan	Respond to of 15196

FIELD ACTIVITIES / PetroQuest Energy, Inc. Announces Gulf of Mexico Discovery TSE SYMBOL: PQU NASDAQ SYMBOL: PQUE JANUARY 7, 1999 LAFAYETTE, LOUISIANA--PetroQuest Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: PQUE; TSE: PQU) announced today that it has logged and is currently completing a significant discovery in the Western Gulf of Mexico. The PetroQuest Energy, Inc. OCS G 3244 High Island Block A-494 Well No. C-1, Offshore Texas (Snapper Prospect) reached a total depth of 8,800' TVD and encountered 207 feet gross hydrocarbon column with 80' of net natural gas pay in the objective Cris. S. Sand. PetroQuest is the operator of the discovery and owns a 42 percent working interest. The other significant owner is Callon Petroleum Company (NYSE: CPE) which owns 50 percent working interest. PetroQuest is currently readying facilities capable of handling initial production rates of 15 million cubic feet of gas per day. Production to sales line is expected to commence by early June. As an update, PetroQuest reports that on November 1, 1998 it has completed an 86 square mile 3-D seismic survey across its core property in the Valentine Field, Lafourche Parish, Louisiana. This program represents the first 3-D seismic survey ever undertaken over the Valentine Salt Dome. The company as operator holds a 42.75 percent working interest in 25,000 acres of oil and gas leases and lease options in partnership with a major energy company. This field has produced over 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas equivalents. Numerous drill targets have now been identified with drilling expected to commence in the second quarter of 1999. PetroQuest Energy is an independent oil and gas company headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana, with an exploration office in Houston, Texas. It is engaged in the exploration, development, acquisition and operation of oil and gas properties in Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico. This press release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements other than statements of historical facts, included in this press release that address activities, events or developments that the company expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including drilling of wells, reserve estimates, future production of oil and gas, future cash flows and other such matters are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated. These factors include, without limitation, uncertainties inherent in estimating proven oil and gas reserves, future rates of production and timing of development expenditures; results of exploratory and development drilling; operating hazards attendant to the oil and gas business; the successful identification, acquisition and development of properties; and changes in the price received for oil and/or gas which may effect results of operations and cash flows. Readers are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and the company can give no assurances that actual results or developments will not differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements.

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (14691)	1/7/1999 7:59:00 PM
From: Herb Duncan	Respond to of 15196

FINANCING / First Star Announces Private Placement ASE SYMBOL: FST JANUARY 7, 1999 CALGARY, ALBERTA--First Star Energy Ltd ("First Star") announces that it has closed the private placement of 3,194,444 flow-through common shares at a price of $0.36 per share for total proceeds of $1,150,000. The proceeds from the flow-through share issue are to be expended in 1999 on First Star's high impact exploration plays, including: 1. a Mannville exploration well at Strachan to develop the upper zones logged but not tested in the 1998 Swan Hills discovery well; 2. a 2300 meter exploration well at Ferrybank in central Alberta (Zeta), on a Devonian D-3 reef oil play with the potential for over 100 million barrels of oil; 3. two other significant Devonian reef plays that are currently being developed. In addition, First Star is seeking approval from the Alberta Stock Exchange to complete a further private placement on the following terms: 1. the securities to be issued will be up to 5,000,000 units at a price of $0.28 per Unit ($1,400,000); 2. each unit will be comprised of 1 Class "A" Common Share and 0.36 of a share purchase warrant; 3. the price allocated to each common share forming part of a unit will be $0.2764 and the price allocated to each 0.36 warrant shall be $0.0036; 4. the warrants will be exercisable at $0.30 until May 31, 1999, and if fully exercised would provide $540,000 to First Star; 5. the subscribers are expected to include Tetrarch Capital Corporation (a 100 percent investment corporation of Mr. James A. Malcolm) and other subscribers who are not yet known and will be determined during the course of the private placement; 6. Mr. James A. Malcolm has agreed to become a director of First Star; and 7. the expected date of closing for the private placement is in February 1999. First Star has agreed that $1,325,000 of the proceeds from the proposed private placement will be used to purchase 1/2 of the working interests that First Star has agreed to purchase from a joint venture partner in the Strachan Area. First Star also proposes to assign to Tetrarch Capital (or a group put together by Tetrarch Capital) First Star's right to acquire the other 1/2 of these working interests. Following the acquisition of such interests by Tetrarch Capital it is proposed that First Star will have a call right to purchase such interests for a period of 4 months after the 2-22-38-9W5 well is placed on production, for $425,000 and 4,375,000 shares. If the option is not exercised, the Tetrarch Group will have a put right to require First Star to purchase such interests for a limited period of time and for consideration that may include cash and/or securities of First Star. This proposed private placement is subject to ASE approval. First Star would also like to announce the following changes to the company management structure: 1. Mr. Robert J. Iverach, Q.C. has resigned as Chairman of the Board of Directors but will remain as a Director of the Company. 2. Mr. James A. Malcolm has joined the Board of Directors as Chairman effective January 5, 1999. Mr. Malcolm was the founder and President of AccuMap EnerData Corporation. AccuMap was merged with QC Data in March, 1998. 3. Mr. Robyn Lore has joined the management team as a Business Consultant effective January 15, 1999. Mr. Lore has 21 years experience in the oil and gas business, primarily as a landman and consultant. He has been a director and officer of several publicly listed companies including New Cache Petroleum Ltd, Granisko Resources Ltd, Aldona Resources Ltd, and Adobe Resources Ltd. Since September, 1997, Mr. Lore has been a consultant to Heritage Oil Corporation, an international oil explorer. First Star is listed on the Alberta Stock Exchange under the symbol "FST".

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (14691)	1/7/1999 9:40:00 PM
From: Kerm Yerman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 15196

FINANCING / Dundee Announces Closing of Flow-Through Share Private Placement CALGARY, Jan. 7 /CNW/ - Dundee Petroleum Corp. is pleased to report that its private placement of ''flow-through'' common shares has closed effective December 31, 1998. In December, 1998, Dundee issued 866,667 common shares for proceeds of $260,000. This issuance brings the total for the private placement to 1,816,667 common shares at $0.30 per share for proceeds of $545,000. As a result of the private placement, at December 31, 1998, the Company had 13,719,001 common shares outstanding. The proceeds from this equity placement will be used for shallow gas development drilling at Cessford, Alberta. As previously announced, Dundee, has reached an agreement to purchase shallow gas rights in approximately 64,000 gross (19,200 net) acres of land directly adjacent to the Company's existing acreage. Dundee currently has 36 gross (10.8 net) producing gas wells at Cessford and with this purchase will increase its total land position to approximately 120 gross (36 net) sections. The company will hold a 30% working interest and expects to drill up to a minimum of 40 gross (12 net) wells at Cessford in 1999.

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (14691)	1/7/1999 9:48:00 PM
From: Kerm Yerman	Respond to of 15196

FIELD ACTIVITIES / Gentry Commences 18-Well drilling program in Northern Alberta Company to earn interest in 93 sections of land CALGARY, Jan. 7 /CNW/ - Gentry Resources Ltd. is pleased to announce that it has commenced its 18-well shallow gas drilling program in the Thornbury area of northeastern Alberta. The first well has been drilled and cased and is currently awaiting testing. The rig has been moved to the second location. A second rig has also been mobilized to the area to accelerate the drilling program, which is expected to take approximately 28 days for all 18 wells. AltaGas Services Inc., a midstream asset company, will tie in the wells at their cost and operate once completion and testing of the wells occurs. Future exploration plans will be developed to fully exploit this large land holding when well tests are correlated back to existing mapping and seismic. Thornbury represents a significant new core area for Gentry, for which the Company will be devoting considerable financial and technical resources.

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (14691)	1/7/1999 9:50:00 PM
From: Kerm Yerman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 15196

ENERGY TRUSTS / PrimeWest Energy Trust Notice PrimeWest Energy Trust - Conference Call Playback - Notice of Investment Community Conference Call - Re Offer to Purchase Starcor and Orion CALGARY, Jan. 7 /CNW/ - For those who were unable to attend the conference call on Thursday, January 7, 1999, a replay of this conference call will be available until 12 midnight (Eastern Time) on January 8, 1999. The toll free number to call into the playback call is 1-800-558-5253. The reservation number is 1271946.

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (14691)	1/7/1999 9:54:00 PM
From: Kerm Yerman	Respond to of 15196

FIELD ACTIVITIES / Bakrie Minarak Energy Inc. Yemen Update CALGARY, Jan. 7 /CNW/ - Bakrie Minarak Energy Inc. (ASE:BAK.A) announces its first exploration well on the R-2 Block in Yemen reached total depth of 1366 m. The well Daw'an No.1 targeted the Lower Cretaceous Qishn sandstones that produce 80 kilometers to the north-east in the East Shabwa and Masilla Blocks. The Upper Qishn sandstone was encountered at 1296 meters close to prognosis, but the basement came in high at 1347 meters. Logs were run and casing has been set to test three intervals with hydrocarbon indications. These include 4.5 and 11 meter intervals in the Qishn formation and a 16 meter interval in the overlaying Harshiyat formation. Testing is expected to take 2 weeks, after which an independent study will be undertaken to assess the results. Bakrie's interest in the 700,000 acre R-2 Block is 50%.

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (14691)	1/7/1999 10:03:00 PM
From: Kerm Yerman	Respond to of 15196

FIELD ACTIVITIES / InterOil Corporation Update TORONTO, Jan. 7 /CNW/ - InterOil Corporation announced today that EP InterOil, Ltd. (''EPI''), a Cayman Island company approximately 92% owned and controlled by S.P. InterOil, LDC (''SPI''), has contracted with BT Alex Brown, a subsidiary of Bankers Trust, Australia Limited, (''BT'') to be the Financial Advisor for the oil refinery project in Papua New Guinea (''PNG''). BT will assist EPI to obtain and arrange US $130 million in non-recourse debt financing to complete construction of the refinery project in Papua New Guinea. BT and EPI are targeting the first or second quarter of 1999 for Financial Close of the non-recourse debt financing. EPI also announced the PNG government's approval for Pioneer Status for the Company's refinery project. Pioneer Status is only awarded to projects that are known to provide a major benefit to the PNG economy. This important approval was given by the National Executive Council in December of 1998. There are two main benefits: First, all income earned between the official commencement of production and December 31st of the fifth anniversary of the year in which production commenced is exempt from PNG income tax; Second, dividends paid out of profits earned during the tax exemption period will be exempt from PNG withholding tax. In other developments, SPI, through a wholly owned subsidiary, SPI Exploration and Production Corp., has secured PNG government approval for a 15% interest in Petroleum Licence 199. This licence is within the major fold belt region, which includes the Kutubu, Gobe, Moran, and Hides fields. Oil Search Limited and Woodside Petroleum Ltd are also participants in PPL 199. SPI Exploration and Production has farmed in for 20% of PPL 157 with Santos, Omega, and Carnarvon Petroleum. This property covers 1.2 million acres of prospective and proven PNG foreland acreage. The permit is located in central-west Papua New Guinea, and contains the Elevala gas condensate field with possible reserves of one trillion cubic feet of gas and 30 million barrels of condensate. The working interest owners are currently prepared to commence the drilling of Stanley 1 well in PPL 157 later this week. The Stanley 1 well is located on the road from Kiunga to the Ok-Tedi mine. Kiunga is an inland port on the Fly River with year-round barge access. The Stanley prospect has two potential pay zones. The Paleocene sands are around 1500 meters in depth, and have the potential to contain significant reserves. This is an unproven pay-zone, although oil shows were seen in offset wells. The conventional target is the Toro sand around 3200 meters in depth. SPI's well cost is estimated to be approximately $1.2 million gross, taking 45 to 60 days to drill. InterOil was formed on May 29, 1997. InterOil's primary asset is its 82% ownership of SPI. The refinery will process approximately 36,000 barrels per day of crude oil and produce a variety of petroleum products for sale within PNG and in the nearby export markets of the South Pacific region, Eastern and Northern Australia and Eastern Indonesia. InterOil's common shares are quoted for trading on the system maintained by the Canadian Dealing Network under the symbol INOL.U. InterOil's shares trade in U.S. dollars. InterOil currently has 16,533,710 common shares outstanding.

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (14691)	1/7/1999 10:06:00 PM
From: Kerm Yerman	Respond to of 15196

CORP ANNOUNCEMENT / Remington Energy Extends Bridge Facility CALGARY, Jan. 7 /CNW/ - Remington Energy Ltd. (''Remington'') announces that its syndicated bank bridge facility for $69 million has been extended to April 1, 1999. The borrowing base facility remains unchanged at $240 million. No scheduled principal repayments are due until April 1, 1999 and Remington is not in default under any provisions of these credit arrangements. The bank syndicate is composed of the Bank of Montreal, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, ABN-AMRO Bank, National Bank of Canada and Dresdner Bank Canada. On December 15, 1998 Remington retained the services of FirstEnergy Capital Corp. to advise it with respect to strategic alternatives to enhance shareholders value. To that end, Remington has recently opened a data room and is in discussion with several oil and gas companies as well as strategic financial investors.

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (14691)	1/7/1999 10:10:00 PM
From: Kerm Yerman	Respond to of 15196

ENERGY TRUSTS / Orion Energy Objects to Continued Unsubstantiated Claims by PrimeWest CALGARY, Jan. 7 /CNW/ - OET.un - TSE - Orion Energy Holdings Inc. (''Orion'') has taken a number of steps to assist Orion Unitholders in evaluating the hostile takeover bid by PrimeWest Energy Trust (''PrimeWest''). These include the preparation of an independent engineering report on the reserves of Orion effective January 1, 1999 and the commissioning of an audit of Orion's 1999 budget in support of projections of 1999 cash distributions which is the basis for Unitholders' potential return on investment. This information, along with the strong recommendation by the Board of Directors of Orion to reject the offer, has been conveyed to the public through a Directors' Circular. Orion takes seriously its responsibility to provide accurate and up to date information to allow Unitholders to make an informed decision with respect to their investment, especially in regards to expected cash distributions and the quality of the underlying assets. PrimeWest, on the other hand, refuses to provide specific responses to questions based on 1999 cash distributions and continues to make misleading and unsubstantiated public claims regarding their views of the merits of this offer as well as vague and dismissive responses to the questions raised by Orion. Orion's Management and Financial Advisors find this to be offensive. In particular, they object to the PrimeWest press release dated January 5, 1999 in which PrimeWest attempts to refute the comments cited in the Orion Directors' Circular that support the recommendation to reject the PrimeWest offer. PrimeWest's rebuttal is nothing more than a denial of the facts, with no supporting information, analysis or numerical evidence to support their views. PrimeWest claims that it has ''demonstrated'' that the transaction will be accretive to Unitholders but refuses to provide the background analysis. In fact, feedback received during the past three investors' meetings indicates that PrimeWest declined to respond with the numbers or disclose specific assumptions to questions asked by investors. Orion is also concerned about the conduct of PrimeWest management at this week's investor presentations in Vancouver and Montreal where they attempted to prevent Orion personnel from making the Orion Directors' Circular available. Many Unitholders have not yet received this information through the mail due to the holiday season and the tight time frame of this bid. We are surprised at PrimeWest's attitude regarding investors and investment advisors having all the available information so that an informed decision can be made The Board of Orion wishes to reiterate that there are a few basic reasons for rejecting the PrimeWest offer which Unitholders are urged to consider. - The offer would result in lower cash distributions than would otherwise be received by Orion Unitholders. - The offer is well below Orion's net asset value. - The offer would trigger significant and unnecessary transaction costs including a bonus to PrimeWest management, further decreasing cash distributions to Orion Unitholders. 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 Montréal, Québec. This information has been neither approved nor disapproved by the Toronto Stock Exchange.

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (14691)	1/7/1999 10:11:00 PM
From: Kerm Yerman	Respond to of 15196

ENERGY TRUSTS / ARC STRATEGIC Energy Fund Announces Best Efforts Purchase for Cancellation of Any Class B Units CALGARY, Jan. 7 /CNW/ - (AEF.UN - TSE) - ARC STRATEGIC Energy Fund announces that commencing January 8, 1999 the Fund will use its best efforts to purchase for cancellation on the Toronto Stock Exchange any Class B Units at then prevailing market prices which are less than 92.5% of the net asset value per Trust Unit. The maximum number of Class B Units which may be purchased during any calendar quarter is (81,650 Trust Units for the quarter ended March 31, 1999) 1.25% of the number of Trust Units outstanding at the beginning of the calendar quarter. ARC STRATEGIC Energy Fund also announces that its net asset value as at January 6, 1999 was $8.64 per Trust Unit. ARC STRATEGIC Energy Fund is a growth-oriented energy investment fund.

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (14691)	1/7/1999 10:20:00 PM
From: Kerm Yerman	Respond to of 15196

SERVICE SECTOR / International Datashare Assigned Exclusive Rights to Patent CALGARY, ALBERTA--The Company is very pleased to announce that it has been assigned the exclusive rights to a patent application disclosing an invention entitled "A Process for accelerating the disclosure of the presence of hydrocarbon by performing pattern recognition on scanned well logs" from its inventor, James Durward, the President of the Company. No fees are payable for this assignment. The Company is responsible for all costs of the patent process and there are provisions that allow for the patent ownership to revert back to the inventor in the event that the Patent is not granted within 4 years. This assignment is in furtherance of a new initiative to develop a product named Intellectual Crystals ("Crystal"). The objective of a Crystal is to capture a portion of a users interpretive skills and/or known indicative occurrences, within a composite pattern - the Crystal. The Crystal can then be used to scan image databases to find similar patterns. This type of database scanning capability is expected to substantially increase the rate at which an interpreter can perform an initial analysis and may be applicable to a variety of industries. This type of database application has recently become possible due to the drop in cost of scanning, disk storage, and processing power. The Company plans to initially apply the technology to its high-resolution scanned well log database with the goal of generating a series of by-passed hydrocarbon prospects within the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (the "Basin"). The initial focus will be on by-passed gas with testing expected to begin in the first quarter of calendar 1999. The Company expects to have completed scanning the entire Basin by spring, 1999. The Company believes that this database will represent the most complete, high-resolution well log image database in existence and will provide the Company with the best feedstock available with which to conduct its Crystal scans. The Company will be seeking joint venture partners in order to maximize the Company's revenues from the knowledge contained within this unique image database.

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (14691)	1/7/1999 10:35:00 PM
From: Kerm Yerman	Read Replies (6) \| Respond to of 15196

SERVICE SECTOR / Veritas DGC Inc. Management Appointments VERITAS DGC INC. ANNOUNCES SENIOR MANAGEMENT APPOINTMENTS HOUSTON, TEXAS-- Ludlow named Vice Chairman; Wells appointed President and Chief Operating Officer Dave Robson, Chairman and CEO of Veritas DGC Inc. announced today that Steve Ludlow has been promoted to Vice Chairman and Tim Wells to President and Chief Operating Officer. Robson said the new management structure is a key step in accomplishing a long-range growth strategy that addresses a new competitive environment caused by changing industry fundamentals and marketplace demands. "This new structure will also enable us to focus even more on the critical external and internal issues that drive our business and determine our success," said Robson. "In Steve and Tim, we have proven industry executives who will work closely with me in making and implementing decisions that will maximize our speed and flexibility in meeting the demands of the marketplace." Ludlow, who has served as President and Chief Operating Officer since 1996, will concentrate on refining and developing long-range growth strategies, especially in the area of new technology. He will be responsible for developing new corporate-wide approaches to the company's health, safety and environmental programs and will continue to lead the company's relationships with the investment community and its customers. A 27-year veteran of the seismic industry, Ludlow joined Digicon in 1971 and held various executive positions before becoming president in 1994. Wells, as President and Chief Operating Officer, will assume responsibility for the company's seven operating units with each division head reporting to him. Wells will concentrate on executing business strategies and improving operating efficiencies in each division. Wells, with more than 20 years of seismic experience, joined the company in 1981 and was most recently President of Veritas DGC Asia Pacific. Veritas DGC Inc., headquartered in Houston, is a leading provider of land, transition zone and marine-based seismic data acquisition, seismic data processing, and multi-client data sales to the petroleum industry. Veritas operates seven divisions in selected markets worldwide and, based on revenue, is the fifth largest geophysical services provider.

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (14691)	1/7/1999 10:38:00 PM
From: Kerm Yerman	Respond to of 15196

SERVICE SECTOR / Veritas DGC Inc. Announces Acquisition VERITAS ACQUIRES TIME SEISMIC EXCHANGE LTD. HOUSTON, TEXAS-- Veritas DGC Inc. announced today that it has signed a letter of intent to purchase the parent company of Time Seismic Exchange Ltd., a Canadian seismic data library company. The parties expect to consummate the purchase in mid-January. Subsequent to the closing, Veritas intends to operate Time Seismic as a separate entity, continuing to build a growing library of non-exclusive 2D and 3D seismic data for customers in Canada. "Aligning these two companies provides the best means for us to integrate Veritas' operating expertise and comprehensive services with Time Seismic's proven ability to put attractive data library programs together," says Dave Robson, Chairman and CEO of Veritas. Time Seismic owns over 3,000 kilometers of 2D data in the Western Canadian basin and is currently conducting a 690 kilometer 2D program in association with Veritas. "The market is right in Canada to embrace multi-client surveys in a much more significant way," says Richard Earle, President of Time Seismic. "This approach provides our customers with the ability to access more of the highest quality data available, and at attractive rates. In addition, it provides more value for today's capital budgets, which are constrained by low commodity prices." Veritas DGC Inc., headquartered in Houston, is a leading provider of land, transition zone and marine-based seismic data acquisition, seismic data processing, and multi-client data sales to the petroleum industry. Veritas operates seven divisions in selected markets worldwide and, based on revenue, is the fifth largest geophysical services provider.

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (14691)	1/7/1999 10:45:00 PM
From: Kerm Yerman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 15196

FIELD ACTIVITIES / Ultra Petroleum Cost Saving Measures ULTRA PETROLEUM ANNOUNCES COST SAVING MEASURES TO IMPROVE FINANCIAL PERFORMACE DENVER, COLORADO-- Ultra Petroleum (TSE: UP) announced today a series of cost-saving measures to improve its financial performance and maximize the efficiency of its natural gas drilling and field expansion plans in the coming year. "Ultra's rapid transition from exploration into a growing natural gas production company means the needs of the company have changed, says Jerry Albertus, President of Ultra Petroleum. " We are now doing everything we can to improve cash flow from our existing operations to ensure the success of our aggressive drilling program in the year ahead." Measures taken earlier this week, and put into effect immediately, include a staff reduction of eight people, representing a 22 per cent cut in Ultra Petroleum's workforce. The staff reductions were a difficult personal decision, says Albertus. "We assembled a very hard working team who were able to get us this far, but declining natural gas prices, coupled with the cost of our exploration efforts, seriously affected our ability to remain cost-effective with our current overhead." Administrative changes to lower operating costs include cutbacks in professional consulting services, training and travel as well as reducing office space in Casper Wyoming and in Denver. In total, staff reductions and cost-cutting efforts are expected to reduce the company's general and administrative expenses, on an annualized basis, by 30 per cent in the current fiscal year (ending June 30, 1999), and achieve a projected 35 per cent cost reduction in the following year. The decision to impose stronger financial controls within the company is part of a broad management restructuring. In December, the company announced it was creating the new positions of Chief Executive Officer and Controller and the company is currently engaged in an executive search to fill both positions. Ultra Petroleum Corp (TSE: UP), a Denver-based natural gas exploration and production company, is currently involved in a drilling and development program on its large acreage position in Wyoming's Green River Basin. The Company derives 90 per cent of its revenues from the production and sale of natural gas and the remainder from the production and sale of natural gas liquids.