Believers

Chemical industry executives are believers in the North American shale gas miracle, and they’re investing accordingly. But there’s still time to blow it with bad policies and regulation, speakers at a Houston industry conference said.

No longer believers in the Enron Corp. energy trading mantra that “bigger is better,” Mirant Corp. and Reliant Resources Inc. executives said Thursday that the focus now is on cash — finding it, paying off debts with it and keeping as much of it as they can. They both conceded that for them, anyway, physical gas trading has not become a cash cow.

No longer believers in the Enron Corp. energy trading mantra that “bigger is better,” Mirant Corp. and Reliant Resources Inc. executives said Thursday that the focus now is on cash — finding it, paying off debts with it and keeping as much of it as they can. They both conceded that for them, anyway, physical gas trading has not become a cash cow.