SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
Amendment to
SCHEDULE 13G
Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Name of Issuer: American Exploration Company
Title of Class of Securities: Common Stock
CUSIP Number: 025762808
No fee is being paid with this amendment.
(1) Name of Reporting Person: UNUM Corporation
I.R.S. Identification Number of Above Person:
010405657
(2) Member of a Group:
(a) Not Applicable
(b) Filing being made on behalf of Reporting Person and
subsidiaries, pursuant to Rule 13d-1(f)(1)
(3) SEC Use Only
(4) Place of Organization: Delaware
Number of Shares Beneficially Owned by Reporting Person
with
(5) Sole Voting Power: None (See Exhibit A)
(6) Shared Voting Power: None (See Exhibit A)
(7) Sole Dispositive Power: None (See Exhibit A)
(8) Shared Dispositive Power: None (See Exhibit A)
(9) Aggregate Amount Beneficially Owned by Reporting
Person: None (See Exhibit A)
(10) Aggregate Amount in Row (9) Excludes Certain Shares:
Not Applicable
(11) Percent of Class Represented by Amount in Row (9):
0%
(12) Type of Reporting Person: HC (See Exhibit A)
<PAGE>
Item 1.
(a) Name of Issuer:
American Exploration Company
(b) Address of Issuer's Principal Executive
Offices:
1331 Lamar Street
Suite 900
Houston, TX 77010-3088
Item 2.
(a) Name of Person Filing:
UNUM Corporation
(b) Address of Principal Business Office:
2211 Congress Street
Portland, ME 04122
(c) Citizenship:
A Delaware corporation
(d) Title of Class of Securities:
Common Stock
(e) CUSIP Number:
025762808
Item 3. This amendment is filed pursuant to Rule 13d-2(b).
The person filing this amendment is a parent holding company,
in accordance with Section 240.13d-1(b)(ii)(G). (See Exhibit A)
Item 4. Ownership:
(a) Number of Shares Beneficially Owned: None (See
exhibit A)
(b) Percent of Class: 0%
(c) Number of shares as to which such person has
Sole power to vote or
to direct the vote: None (See Exhibit A)
Shared power to vote or
to direct the vote: None (See Exhibit A)
Sole power to dispose or
to direct disposition: None (See Exhibit A)
Shared power to dispose
or to direct disposition: None (See Exhibit A)
Item 5. Ownership of 5% or less of a class:
This amendment is being filed to report the fact that as
of the date hereof the reporting person has ceased to be the
beneficial owner of more than five percent of the class of
securities.
Item 6. Ownership of More than 5% on Behalf of Another
Person: Not Applicable
Item 7. Identification and Classification
of the Subsidiaries Which Acquired the Security Being reported
on By the Parent Holding Company: See Exhibit A
<PAGE>
Item 8. Identification and Classification of Members of the
Group: Not Applicable
Item 9. Notice of Dissolution of Group: Not Applicable
Item 10. Certification:
By signing below, UNUM Corporation certifies that, to
the best of its knowledge and belief, the securities referred
to above were acquired in the ordinary course of business and
were not acquired for the purpose of and do not have the
effect of changing or influencing the control of the issuer
of such securities and were not acquired in connection with
or as a participant in any transaction having such purposes
or effect.
SIGNATURE
After reasonable inquiry and to the best of its
knowledge and belief, UNUM Corporation certifies that the
information set forth in this amendment is true, complete and
correct.
Date: February 10, 1998 (As of December 31, 1997)
UNUM Corporation
By /s/ Peter J. Moynihan
Peter J. Moynihan
Senior Vice President, Investments
<PAGE>
EXHIBIT A
Item 3. Status of Person Filing; Classification/Types of
Subsidiaries:
Item 7. Identification and Classification of the
Subsidiaries Which Acquired the Security Being Reported on By
the Parent Holding Company:
The security being reported on by UNUM Corporation in
its capacity as a parent holding company was acquired by
its wholly-owned subsidiaries, UNUM Life Insurance
Company of America, an insurance corporation organized
and existing under the laws of the State of Maine, and
First UNUM Life Insurance Company, an insurance
corporation organized and existing under the laws of the
State of New York, further information regarding which
subsidiaries is as follows:
UNUM Life Insurance Company of America:
This subsidiary's I.R.S. identification number is
010278678.
The address of this subsidiary's principal
executive office is the same as that of the parent
holding company.
Until October 14, 1997, this subsidiary held
direct legal and beneficial ownership of 696,901
shares of the common stock of American Exploration
Company which are part of the subject of this
amendment, of which 648,524 shares were held in this
Subsidiary's General Account. An additional 48,377
shares had been acquired for and held in its Separate
Account which funded, in part, UNUM's pension plan.
On or about January 4, 1997 those 48,377 shares were
transferred to the pension plan to be held directly
by it, and managed by UNUM Life Insurance Company of
America pursuant to an Investment Management
Agreement. (See Item 5)
UNUM Employees Lifecycle Plan (formerly known as the UNUM
Employees Pension Plan and Trust):
The pension plan's I.R.S. identification number is 01
0475853.
The address of the plan's principal administrative
office is the same as that of the parent holding
company.
Until October 14, 1997, the plan held direct legal
and beneficial ownership of 48,377 shares of the
common stock of American Exploration Company which
are part of the subject of this amendment. (See Item
5)
First UNUM Life Insurance Company:
This subsidiary's I.R.S. identification number is 13
1898173.
The address of this subsidiary's principal
executive office is
120 White Plains Road
Third Floor
Tarrytown, NY 10591
Until October 14, 1997, this subsidiary held direct
legal and beneficial ownership of 102,537.4 shares of
the common stock of American Exploration Company
which are part of the subject of this amendment.
(See Item 5)
Each subsidiary is an insurance company as defined in
Section 3(a)(19) of the Act, and its classification or
type for purposes of Item 3 is "IC."
The UNUM Employees Lifecycle Plan is an employee benefit
plan, pension fund which is subject to the provisions of
the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, and
its classification or type for purposes of Item 3 is "IF."
To the best of its knowledge and belief and that of the
parent holding company, these shares were respectively
acquired by each subsidiary in the ordinary course of
business and were not acquired for the purpose of and do
not have the effect of changing or influencing the control
of the issuer of such securities and were not acquired in
connection with or as a participant in any transaction
having such purposes or effect.
The parent holding company filing this amendment does not
directly own any security of the subject class, and no
other direct or indirect subsidiary of this parent holding
company holds any security of the subject class.
Item 5. Ownership of Five Percent or Less of a Class.
The parent holding company is filing this amendment to report
that, as of the date hereof, neither it nor its subsidiaries
and its pension plan in the aggregate hold five percent or
more of the class of securities previously reported, as a
result of the following events.
On October 14, 1997, pursuant to an Agreement and Plan of
Reorganization dated as of June 24, 1997, American
Exploration Company merged with and into Louis Dreyfus
Natural Gas Corp., with the latter company being the
surviving company. In the Merger, each share of Common Stock
of American Exploration Company was exchanged for 0.72 shares
of the Common Stock of Louis Dreyfus Natural Gas Corp., cusip
number 546011107, plus $3.00 in cash, with fractional shares
being exchanged for cash. As a result of this exchange, the
parent holding company filing this amendment and its
subsidiaries and its pension plan in the aggregate hold no
Common Stock of American Exploration Company, and less than
one and one half percent (1.5%) of the Common Stock of Louis
Dreyfus Natural Gas Corp.
