Agree

Enterprise Products LP and El Paso Corp.’s GulfTerra Energy Partners LP agreed to a merger on Monday, which will form the second largest publicly traded energy partnership in the United States. The new partnership will be worth about $13 billion, with the jointly owned affiliates of Enterprise Products Co. and El Paso each owning a 50% stake.

Sempra Energy’s vision of becoming a gateway for liquefied natural gas (LNG) into the United States may be moving closer to reality following news of a deal with the BP plc and the world’s largest LNG exporter, Indonesia.

Dynegy Inc. announced Tuesday that it has executed definitive documentation with 26.5% shareholder ChevronTexaco Corp. to complete a stock restructuring. The transaction was announced in mid-July (see Daily GPI, July 16).

JP Morgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. agreed Monday to pay a total of $255 million to settle enforcement proceedings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) concerning their roles in Enron Corp.’s financial deception. The proceeding also resolved charges that Citigroup had manipulated Dynegy Inc.’s financial statements in connection with its Project Alpha financing.

Dynegy Inc. is moving forward with its long-term restructuring and refinancing plans after obtaining nearly 100% approval from its lenders to proceed. The deal, announced earlier this month (see Daily GPI, July 16), required 67% approval by the lenders; Dynegy currently has more than 99% approval.

Qatar Petroleum and ConocoPhillips on Friday announced an agreement to develop Qatargas 3, a large-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, to serve the U.S. market with 1 Bcf/d in gas sales. ConocoPhillips would purchase the LNG and be responsible for regasification and marketing, with the project scheduled to begin production between 2008-2009.

While some analysts and consultants agree that prices are nearing their bottom for the summer and likely will rebound due to an increase in gas demand related to warmer temperatures and the recent price decline, there is disagreement over what will be the “equilibrium” price for the rest of the storage injection season.

“This very short extension, if granted, will allow us to finalize an agreement we have reached in principle between the official representative of all our creditors and the court-appointed plan facilitator of the Enron North America estate,” said Stephen F. Cooper, Enron acting CEO and chief restructuring officer. “We believe that the extension will ultimately expedite our court proceedings, and we are hopeful that the court will approve our motion. We are very pleased with the prospect that the plan will have the support of both the Creditors’ Committee and the ENA Examiner.”

Enron Corp. announced on Friday that it has reached a reorganization agreement in principal with its creditors, but needs yet another extension until July 11 to complete the deal and file it with the bankruptcy court. It’s unclear whether Judge Arthur J. Gonzalez will grant another extension. He indicated in February before granting a fourth extension to June 30 that his patience with the delays was wearing thin (see Daily GPI, April 24, Feb. 24).