2003

The mood on Capitol Hill last week was cautiously upbeat as the feuding tax writers made headway on the disputed items in the multi-billion dollar tax package of the broad energy bill, prompting widespread reports that a final conference vote on the legislation was likely to occur this week. By late Friday, however, Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM), chairman of the conference committee, had not formally scheduled a vote.

President Bush last week took steps to try to bring about a quick resolution of the tax-related conflict that has halted progress on comprehensive energy legislation for weeks, pressing House and Senate lawmakers to get a “common sense, reasonable” measure to his desk before they leave for the year.

David Delainey, the former CEO of Enron North America and Enron Energy Services, last week agreed to plead guilty in connection with criminal charges brought by the U.S. Department of Justice. Delainey, who apparently will cooperate in the continuing investigation, also settled Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) allegations without admitting or denying any wrongdoing in manipulating his former company’s earnings statements.

A producer predicted “in the toilet” as the destiny of the cash market Friday after market influences were almost unanimously price-negative Thursday. As signaled by late retreats in Wednesday’s trading, swing quotes Thursday failed to sustain the midweek break in recent price slides except for flat to mildly firmer numbers at some points in the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada — not coincidentally the areas subject to most of the current winter weather.

Exxon Mobil Corp. missed Wall Street’s quarterly expectations by 7 cents/share on Thursday, and the world’s largest energy company also reported a 3% drop in oil and gas production — despite higher upstream spending. Meanwhile, Unocal Corp. eclipsed Wall Street expectations, but its production numbers also were lower, which it attributed to asset sales and natural field declines.

Western Gas Resources and its subsidiary, Lance Oil & Gas Co., have agreed to settle a legal dispute with Williams Production RMT Co. over each company’s share of their joint operations in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming.

Western Gas Resources and its subsidiary, Lance Oil & Gas Co., have agreed to settle a legal dispute with Williams Production RMT Co. over each company’s share of their joint operations in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming.

A consortium of energy concerns headquartered in Mexico, Brazil and Japan were expected to win the second tender to produce natural gas in Mexico’s Burgos Basin.

The staffs of House and Senate Republican negotiators were expected to work throughout Friday night to “hammer out the details” of the remaining sticking points to a broad energy bill in time for a final conference committee session possibly as early as Monday.