Accusations

Hess Corp. CEO John Hess is claiming that shareholder Paul Singer’s Elliott Management Corp. may pay board nominees to liquidate the company.

Arthur Brisbane, who acts as the “readers’ representative,” wrote an opinion piece in the Sunday Times following accusations by critics that the newspaper and reporter Ian Urbina had used “fear mongering” to criticize the industry, comparing it to a “Ponzi” scheme with a future like Enron Corp. or the dot-com bubble (see Shale Daily, June 28). Brisbane researched the methods used by the reporter and editors and followed up with his commentary.

The president of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) Thursday criticized the state’s oldest consumer utility group for its accusations regarding how Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has spent hundreds of millions of dollars designated for past pipeline maintenance work.

As a congressional committee zeroed in on skyrocketing oil prices, leveling accusations of excessive speculation, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) last week announced that its staff has amended the “no-action relief letter” under which ICE Futures Europe is permitted direct access to U.S. customers. The change requires the adoption of equivalent U.S. position limits and accountability levels on its West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil contract, which is linked to the Nymex crude oil contract.

As a congressional committee zeroed in on skyrocketing oil prices, leveling accusations of excessive speculation, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that its staff has amended the “no-action relief letter” under which ICE Futures Europe is permitted direct access to U.S. customers. The change requires the adoption of equivalent U.S. position limits and accountability levels on its West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil contract, which is linked to the Nymex crude oil contract.

Adding to a busy week for the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) that included new product offerings (see Daily GPI, Dec. 21) and accusations of merger interference (see Daily GPI, Dec. 22), as well as grumblings surrounding its scaled-down 2007 holiday schedule (see Daily GPI, Dec.21), the exchange reported Thursday that it will launch its first energy index futures contract, 3-2-1 Plus as part of the Nymex iPort suite of index futures contracts beginning on Jan. 21 for trade date Jan. 22.

El Paso Corp.’s board responded last Thursday to accusations that directors, faced with possible ouster at the company’s shareholder meeting this year, may vote out generous severance packages for displaced officers to dampen any drive by stockholders to unseat the board.

El Paso Corp.’s board responded Thursday to accusations that directors, faced with possible ouster at the company’s shareholder meeting this year, may vote out generous severance packages for displaced officers to dampen any drive by stockholders to unseat the board.

The war of words continues between El Paso Corp. Chairman William Wise and major shareholder Oscar S. Wyatt Jr., the former chairman of The Coastal Corp., whose company merged with El Paso last year. A three-page letter sent last Tuesday by Wyatt, which took to task the senior management, mark-to-market accounting and off-balance sheet transactions, evolved into an 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Wednesday, where Wise defended his company’s businesses transactions, and assured regulators that all of the charges could be refuted.