Activist

Spectra Energy Corp.’s (SE) recent announcement that it would accelerate dropdowns to Spectra Energy Partners (SEP) did not placate activist investor Sandell Asset Management, which has called again for further action and threatened to seek changes to the company’s board.

Spectra Energy Corp.’s (SE) announcement last week that it would accelerate dropdowns to Spectra Energy Partners (SEP) lifted the company’s shares but did not placate activist investor Sandell Asset Management, which Monday called again for further action and threatened to seek changes to the company’s board.

Under pressure from an activist investor, Spectra Energy Corp. (SE) said last week it would drop down all of its remaining U.S. transmission and storage assets to Spectra Energy Partners (SEP) by the end of the year.

The city of Dallas Plan Commission on Thursday voted to reconsider the application by Trinity East Energy LLC for three zoning permits that would allow it to drill within the city limits. The commission previously voted against granting the permits (see Shale Daily, Jan. 8). The commission now is expected to hold a hearing on the permits Feb. 17. If the specific use permits ultimately receive the commission’s blessing, Trinity East will have an easier time gaining the ultimate approval it needs to drill from Dallas City Council. Some drilling opponents in attendance at the commission meeting chanted “shame” following the vote to reconsider; some wept, and one activist was led from the chamber, according to an online report by TheDallas Morning News.

Activist hedge fund Third Point LLC, which has transformed more than one U.S. oil and natural gas operator, now is the fourth-largest investor in Chesapeake Energy Corp., according to stock market insiders.

Private hedge fund operator Third Point LLC, which is run by activist investor Daniel Loeb, listed Chesapeake Energy Corp. as one of the fund’s largest new holdings in a June exposure report to investors, according to several market followers.

Activist hedge fund Third Point LLC is now the fourth-largest investor in Chesapeake Energy Corp., according to stock market insiders.

A federal judge sentenced on Tuesday Tim DeChristopher, the 29-year-old environmental activist who disrupted a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) auction in Utah in December 2008, to two years in prison.

Potential risks of hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) well stimulation — particularly in natural gas shale plays — remain on the minds of activist energy company investors, some of whom are seeking more information on the practice and measures that could reduce associated risks.