Appeals

Colorado’s revised state-specific roadless proposal, which the state filed with the Agriculture Department’s U.S. Forest Service earlier this month, would not block new oil and natural gas leasing in national forests of Colorado, but it would prohibit the construction of new roads to carry out these activities in the state’s national forests, according to a spokesman with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

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.

Production is in the process of ramping up to normal levels of about 400 MMcf/d from the Sable Offshore Energy Project off Nova Scotia, an ExxonMobil spokesman said. The unit was down for planned maintenance when it was evacuated due to the threat from Hurricane Bill (see NGI, Aug. 31). The facility was remanned and maintenance was completed Aug. 30, said spokesman Merle MacIsaac. He said a damage inspection revealed that no harm had been caused by Bill. The Sable project is owned by ExxonMobil Canada Properties Ltd., Shell Canada Ltd., Imperial Oil Resources, Pengrowth Energy Trust and Mosbacher Operating Ltd. Sable gas production travels on Spectra Energy’s Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline. The Maritimes & Northeast mainline interconnects with Portland Natural Gas Transmission System, Tennessee Gas Pipeline and Algonquin Gas Transmission. Through lateral pipelines the pipeline serves markets in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Emera Inc. and ExxonMobil Canada own minority interests in the pipeline.

A federal appeals court in Washington, DC, Friday rejected the state of Delaware’s challenge to a FERC order approving BP Crown Landing LLC’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal proposed for New Jersey, saying the state “lacks standing because it has not suffered an injury-in-fact.”

A federal appeals court in Washington, DC, Friday rejected the state of Delaware’s challenge to a FERC order approving BP Crown Landing LLC’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal proposed for New Jersey, saying the state “lacks standing because it has not suffered an injury-in-fact.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Monday ordered the federal government to pay more than $1 billion in recovered costs to a group of exploration and production (E&P) companies, upholding a 2005 federal court’s decision to pay for leases off the California coast that were breached. The decision affirms that the government owes the companies bonuses they paid for Outer Continental Shelf leases.

Islander East Pipeline Co.’s proposed 45-mile Connecticut-to-Long Island project took yet another hit when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York said it will not review a Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) decision to deny the project a water-quality permit.

Islander East Pipeline Co.’s proposed 45-mile Connecticut-to-Long Island project took yet another hit Friday when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York said it will not review a Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) decision to deny the project a water-quality permit.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week affirmed a lower court’s ruling to allow a lawsuit by E. & J. Gallo Winery of Modesto, CA, to continue against EnCana Corp. and “multiple unnamed co-conspirators” over colluding to increase the price of natural gas sold to the wine maker in 2001.