InterNorth Inc. was an American energy company headquartered at the Northern Natural Gas Building in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. It specialized in natural gas pipelines but also a force in the plastics industry, coal and petroleum exploration and production. It was a predecessor to Enron Corporation.
InterNorth was founded in 1931 as Northern Natural Gas Company. Over the years, it acquired several other subsidiaries, such as Northern Liquid Fuels Company, Northern Petrochemicals Company, Northern Propane Gas Company, Northern Border Pipeline Company, and People's Natural Gas. In March 1980, Northern Natural Gas reorganized as a holding company, InterNorth. They operated the largest natural gas pipeline in North America (approximately 36,000 miles of pipeline).[1]
In 1980-81, the company launched an unsolicited takeover bid for Crouse-Hinds Company, which wound up being acquired by Cooper Industries the following year.[2] The company continued to pursue expansion opportunities. In 1983, the company purchased the Belco Petroleum Company, a Fortune 500 oil exploration and development company founded by