Bankruptcy

It’s going on seven years since the bankruptcy of a certain Houston-based energy trading giant, and natural gas marketers have remained true to their renewed faith in physical assets: pipelines and storage. But that’s not to say gas marketing is a sleepy business of merely pushing molecules through pipes and counting dollars.

It’s going on seven years since the bankruptcy of a certain Houston-based energy trading giant, and natural gas marketers have remained true to their renewed faith in physical assets: pipelines and storage. But that’s not to say gas marketing is a sleepy business of merely pushing molecules through pipes and counting dollars.

Weeks after emerging from two years in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Calpine Corp. senior officials Friday talked bullishly about the reorganized independent power plant developer’s future in a carbon-conscious environment. They think the company can take advantage of shrinking reserve margins and are talking up California and Texas markets in which the company has the majority of its fleet of natural gas-fired power plants.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York on Tuesday approved a partial settlement between independent oil and natural gas producer Rosetta Resources Inc. and Chapter 11-bound Calpine Corp. On the same day, Rosetta asked the court to dismiss Calpine’s unsettled allegations of fraudulent actions by the producer (see Daily GPI, Sept. 12).

Three years after its emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and a historic settlement with state regulators, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. operates in full transformation mode, with a new, diverse senior management team that is motivated to aggressively go after growth opportunities tied to the core utility business, CEO Peter Darbee told Wall Street analysts in New York City Wednesday. Darbee and his fellow senior executives at PG&E Corp. gave an annual update to the financial community.

More than five years after Enron Corp. collapsed into bankruptcy, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week charged Jordan Mintz and Rex Rogers, two former in-house lawyers, with participating in various fraudulent schemes. Mintz, 50, is currently the chief tax officer at Kinder Morgan Corp., while Rogers, 58, a former SEC lawyer, is retired.

More than five years after Enron Corp. collapsed into bankruptcy, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Wednesday charged Jordan Mintz and Rex Rogers, two former in-house lawyers, with participating in various fraudulent schemes. Mintz, 50, is currently the chief tax officer at energy company Kinder Morgan Corp, while Rogers, 58, a former SEC lawyer, is retired.

Energen Corp. subsidiary Energen Resources sold its allowed $12.5 million Enron bankruptcy claim, which will generate net income in 2006 of $6.7 million, or 9 cents per diluted share. The parent company reaffirmed its 2006 earnings guidance range of $3.10-$3.30 per diluted share, noting that the Enron settlement is expected to place Energen’s 2006 earnings toward the middle of this range. Excluded from the earnings guidance is a significant fourth quarter gain from the previously announced sale of one-half of Energen Resources’ acreage position in Alabama shales. The Birmingham, AL-based company has 1.7 Tcfe of proved reserves in the San Juan, Permian and Black Warrior basins and in the North Louisiana/East Texas area.

Fully financially recovered 18 months after emerging from three years in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. Friday filed a $682 million general rate increase request for 2007 with the California Public Utilities Commission. The bulk of the request — $481 million — is for its electric distribution utility operations, with the rest covering its natural gas distribution utility ($114 million) and electric generation ($87 million).