Although NiSource Inc. admits it is thinking about undoing its 6-year-old merger with Columbia Energy Group, officials say it's only one of the options on the table.

"Nothing has been ruled out and no decision has been made," NiSource spokeswoman Carol Churchill said.

NiSource is in the midst of a financial and strategic review of its company, Churchill said.

The possibility of a breakup was broached during a conference call held with investors Thursday morning to report NiSource's quarterly earnings.

An analyst asked NiSource CEO Robert Skaggs if he was aware that Duke Energy had spun off its natural gas business.

Skaggs acknowledged a similar move was among the options NiSource is considering.

"It was just something that was brought up by one of the callers," Churchill said. "It wasn't anything that he (Skaggs) initiated."

Michael Heim, an analyst with A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc., said the merging of electrical and natural gas businesses was the trend in the late 1990s.

Now, though, companies are going in the opposite direction, Heim said.

"I think it's more than a one-company trend," Heim said.

However, Heim said he sees a breakup of NiSource as the less likely choice of the company's executives.

"It's a little bit more involved than I think they'd be interested in doing," Heim said.

In September, it was reported that Gary Neale, the former CEO and now chairman of the board of NiSource, had dumped 191,000 shares of the company's stock in late August.

Churchill said that was part of an effort on Neale's part to diversify his portfolio and has nothing to do with a possible breakup or other moves by the company.

Although she said no decision has been made about future moves by the company, Churchill said executives are in the "advanced stages" of reviewing their options.

"They're coming to a point where they're reaching a decision," Churchill said.

Contact Jon Seidel at 881-3148 or jseidel@post-trib.com