Accounting

Richard A. Causey, 46, Enron Corp.’s former chief accounting officer, last week began serving a five-and-a-half-year prison sentence in Texas for his role in the fraud schemes that brought down the company.

Richard A. Causey, 46, Enron Corp.’s former chief accounting officer, has begun serving a five-and-a-half-year prison sentence in Texas for his role in the fraud schemes that brought down the company.

With its core utility accounting for all of the net profits, Tucson, AZ-based UniSource Energy Corp. Thursday reported second quarter results that were up slightly over the same quarter last year — $10 million, or 28 cents/basic share, compared with $9 million, or 27 cents/basic share, in the second quarter of 2005. The holding company for Tucson Electric Power Co. (TEP) also increased its 2006 full-year earnings guidance to between $1.75/basic share and $2.15/basic share.

With rapid payout and strong cash flow, the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) has emerged as the “epicenter” of merger and acquisition (M&A) activity, accounting for half of the top 10 deals involving U.S.-based exploration and production (E&P) companies year-to-date, Raymond James analysts wrote in their latest “Stat of the Week.” Overall, M&A activity within the oil and gas sector continues to heat up, with more than $18 billion in announcements involving U.S.-based E&Ps so far this year.

With rapid payout and strong cash flow, the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) has emerged as the “epicenter” of merger and acquisition (M&A) activity, accounting for half of the top 10 deals involving U.S.-based exploration and production (E&P) companies year-to-date, Raymond James analysts wrote in their latest “Stat of the Week.” Overall, M&A activity within the oil and gas sector continues to heat up, with more than $18 billion in announcements involving U.S.-based E&Ps so far this year.

Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay and ex-CEO Jeffrey Skilling “lied over and over and over again” to investors and employees “through accounting tricks, fiction, hocus-pocus, trickery, misleading statements, half-truths, omissions and outright lies,” federal prosecutor Kathryn H. Ruemmler told a packed courtroom on Monday during closing arguments in the 16-week-long case that could send the two former chiefs to prison for dozens of years.

With its commodities business accounting for nearly half of the profits, San Diego-based Sempra Energy Tuesday reported first quarter earnings that were up 14% over the same period last year, despite decreased or flat earnings in all of its other units, notably its two California utilities. Revenues for the first quarter were $3.3 billion, compared with $2.7 billion for the first quarter of 2005.

With just three weeks remaining before three of the top ex-Enron Corp. executives go to trial, former Chief Accounting Officer Richard Causey is said to be nearing a plea deal with federal officials. If an agreement is reached, Causey’s knowledge could prove deadly to the other two defendants: former Chairman Kenneth Lay and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling.

Massive charges on international power assets and the impact of mark-to-market accounting on marketing operations led El Paso Corp. to report a second quarter loss of $238 million (minus 38 cents/share) compared with a profit of $5 million (1 cent) from the same period a year ago.