2006

Linda Lay, the widow of Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay, who died in 2006, has agreed to split two annuity accounts with Enron Creditors Recovery Corp. (ECRC) to settle all remaining litigation between Enron and the Lays. The Lays were sued by ECRC over allegedly fraudulent transfers that preceded Enron’s bankruptcy in late 2001. According to the lawsuit, Enron loaned Kenneth Lay money that he repaid with company stock; Enron also agreed to buy some of the Lays’ annuities for $10 million, which today are considered worthless. The settlement, which was completed through mediation, was “fair,” said ECRC, because Kenneth Lay’s estate is insolvent and Linda Lay has “extremely limited” assets. The settlement, which requires court approval, is to be heard July 7 before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez in New York City (The Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Enron Corp et al v. Lay et al, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, No. 03-ap-02075).

Since the cessation of injections at two natural gas saltwater disposal wells in the Fayetteville Shale nearly two weeks ago, a swarm of earthquakes there that began last summer seems to have died down, a researcher said. However, it will be at least a few more weeks before any link between the wells and quakes might be seen, and with how much certainty remains unclear.

California air quality regulators told a Congressional committee Wednesday that the state’s implementation of a 2006 climate change law (AB 32) could be jeopardized by legislative proposals to rollback plans to expand federal Clean Air Act restrictions to include greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from motor vehicles.

Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the midstream sector last year got back to the all-time high level of 2006, driven mainly by growing natural gas production and the weak gas price environment, according to the “IHS Herold 2011 Global Midstream M&A Review.”

Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the midstream sector last year got back to the all-time high level of 2006, driven mainly by growing natural gas production and the weak gas price environment, according to the “IHS Herold 2011 Global Midstream M&A Review.”

Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the midstream sector last year got back to the all-time high level of 2006. Nearly all (94%) of the activity last year was driven by spending on gas pipelines and gas gathering and processing facilities in the United States, and shale gas plays featured prominently in that activity, according to the “IHS Herold 2011 Global Midstream M&A Review.”

MoBay Storage Hub LLC, an affiliate of Falcon Gas Storage Co. Inc., received an order from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which amended a 2006 certificate, to increase the total capacity of its storage facilities in South Mobile Bay County, AL, by 3.70 Bcf to 86.74 Bcf, of which 59.61 Bcf will be working capacity [CP06-398]. MoBay proposes to install nine injection and withdrawal wells in addition to the 21 wells that already exist. Two of the wells will be installed at new offshore locations and seven at previously approved well caisson structure locations, the order said. All of the new wells will be within the North Dauphin Island storage reservoir. FERC also approved MoBay’s request for market-based rate approval for firm and interruptible storage, hub and wheeling services.

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to consider the appeal of former Enron Corp. CEO Jeffrey Skilling, who was convicted in 2006 on 19 criminal charges. In a 3-0 vote, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans last January denied a request to overturn Skilling’s convictions, which the defense claimed were based on incorrect legal theory, faulty jury instructions, a biased jury and prosecutorial misconduct (see NGI, Jan. 12). However, the three-judge panel ordered that Skilling be resentenced, which could reduce the prison term of 24 years and four months. The court agreed with the defense team’s argument that Judge Sim Lake, who presided over Skilling’s trial, had misapplied federal guidelines in enhancing Skilling’s sentence. When Skilling was sentenced, Lake ruled that Skilling’s conduct had endangered a “financial institution” because his actions had damaged the value of Enron’s pension fund. The circuit court found that Enron’s pension fund was not a financial institution. Skilling’s legal team appealed for a review of the case to the Supreme Court in May (see NGI, May 18). The defense team argues that under a federal fraud statute, prosecutors failed to show that Skilling deprived Enron of his “honest services.” The defense also contends that pretrial publicity in Houston, where Enron was headquartered, had prejudiced the jury and led to an unfair trial.

The U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday agreed to consider the appeal of former Enron Corp. CEO Jeffrey Skilling, who was convicted in 2006 on 19 criminal charges.