Butting

Fading oil and natural gas liquids (NGL) prices, butting into subdued world economic conditions, point to slower exploration and production (E&P) growth for the next two years, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

After years of setbacks in the courts and head-butting with the states, Islander East Pipeline and the Connecticut attorney general’s office have agreed not to proceed with an appeal at the Department of Commerce, signaling the end to the Connecticut-to-Long Island pipeline as it is currently structured, said a spokeswoman for Spectra Energy, one of the project’s sponsors.

Major energy players, such as Enron, PG&E Corp. and EdisonInternational, are butting heads increasingly overmulti-million-dollar assets and future market leverage out West ina series of “electricity range wars” sparked by the advent of morecompetition.