One month after declaring bankruptcy, two subsidiaries of Norway’s Norse Energy Corp. ASA plan to sue Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other state officials in New York State Supreme Court in an effort to compel them to complete a supplemental generic environmental impact statement (SGEIS) on high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF).
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‘One-in-Three Probability’ for Weakening PG&E
The credit rating for PG&E Corp. and utility subsidiary Pacific Gas & Electric Co. face a “one-in-three probability” for weaker business and financial profiles over the coming year related to the San Bruno, CA natural gas pipeline explosion, according to Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P).
PG&E CEO: Proposed $2.25B Pipe Penalty May Mean Bankruptcy
PG&E Corp. CEO Anthony Earley in a Wall Street interview Wednesday held out the possibility of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy by the company’s giant San Francisco-based combination utility, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E), if a proposed $2.25 billion penalty by state regulatory safety staff is upheld by the five-member California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).
People
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has notified victims of Enron Corp.’s fraud and 2001 bankruptcy that they have until April 17 to object to a possible resentencing agreement with imprisoned former CEO Jeffrey Skilling. Skilling, 59, has served more than six years of a 24-year prison term after he was convicted by a Houston jury in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas in May 2006 on 19 criminal counts for securities fraud, conspiracy, making false statements to auditors and insider trading (see NGI, May 29, 2006). The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans reaffirmed the conviction in 2011, finding that the federal government’s evidence of conspiracy was “overwhelming,” but it reiterated, as it had in 2009, that the sentence had been miscalculated by the district court (see NGI, April 11, 2011). The resentencing issue was remanded to the lower court (U.S. v. Skilling, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas, No. 04-cr-00025).
Skilling’s 24-Year Prison Term Being Renegotiated
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has notified victims of Enron Corp.’s fraud and 2001 bankruptcy that prosecutors may enter into an agreement with imprisoned former CEO Jeffrey Skilling that could result in a resentencing.
Jones, Southridge, Pablo Join Forces in Arkoma Basin
Jones Energy Holdings (JEH) has acquired all of the producing properties in the Arkoma Basin owned and operated by Southridge Energy LLC and Pablo Energy II, which includes 20 MMcfe/d of current net production and more than 77,000 gross acres located primarily in the liquids-rich fairway of the Woodford Shale in Oklahoma’s Coal and Atoka counties, JEH said Wednesday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Calpine Counting on Gas-Fueled Fleet
With a recent history that includes emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy two years ago, Calpine Corp. is focused on a post-coal electric generation future.
Oregon LNG Projects Now in Question
Oregon officials and news media were examining the viability of two remaining liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal projects following the bankruptcy of NorthernStar Natural Gas Corp. and its abandonment of the Bradwood Landing LNG project along the Columbia River (see NGI, May 10).
People
Former Enron Corp. CEO Jeffrey Skilling has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to review his convictions. Before Enron fell into bankruptcy in late 2001, Skilling had at various times been COO, president and CEO of the company. A jury in 2006 found Skilling guilty on one count of conspiracy (a joint count with Chairman Kenneth Lay), 12 counts of securities fraud, one count of insider trading and five counts of making false statements to auditors and Enron shareholders (see NGI, May 29, 2006). He was acquitted on nine counts of insider trading. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans in January upheld all of Skilling’s 19 convictions, and a month later the full circuit court rejected a request for rehearing (see NGI, Feb. 16). The appeals court, however, ordered that Skilling be resentenced, which could reduce his prison term of 24 years and four months. The resentencing has not been completed, and until then Skilling is serving his sentence in a federal prison in Minnesota. The New Orleans appeals court said four months ago that Skilling had “failed to demonstrate that the government’s case rested on an incorrect theory of law or that any reversible errors infected his trial.” In its appeal to the Supreme Court, the defense team argues that under a federal fraud statute, prosecutors failed to show that Skilling wanted to advance his interests rather than those of Enron. The defense also contends that pretrial publicity prejudiced the jury and led to an unfair trial. The trial was held in Houston where Enron was headquartered. The Supreme Court could decide to hear or not hear the case before the court’s term is completed this summer.
Skilling Appeals to Supreme Court
Former Enron Corp. CEO Jeffrey Skilling on Monday appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to review his convictions.