Christmas

President Bush last Wednesday signed into law energy legislation (HR 6) that contains a lot of Christmas goodies for proponents of energy conservation and renewable fuels production, but oil and natural gas producers and consumers got a lump of coal in their stockings.

The Senate before leaving for the Christmas holiday last Wednesday confirmed FERC Chairman Joseph Kelliher and Commissioner Jon Wellinghoff for second terms on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, putting an end to a nail-biting wait for Kelliher whose nomination had been pending in the Senate since May.

Christmas came early for industrials, utilities and residential natural gas customers this year as futures traders late last week pressured prices to levels not seen since late November. Central to the sell-off was end-of-year book squaring mixed with contract liquidation ahead of moderating temperatures that were expected to invade portions of the country over the weekend and this week. The January contract was the hardest hit by the selling, dropping 64 cents for the day and $1.35 for the week to close at $12.283.

Christmas might be coming early for President Bush this year as the U.S. Congress might actually make good on his request to have an agreed-upon energy bill on his desk by Aug. 1.

“It’s beginning to look a lot like summer.” Christmas may still be six months away, but forgive one source for being reminded of a holiday carol in assessing why cash prices spiked across the board Tuesday.

Standing out as a bright spot of corporate morality, the team formed at KeySpan Corp. of CEO Robert Catell and Corporate Ombudsman Kenny Moore show how a company can be successful by operating the right way. The story of the unlikely duo, which pairs a large company CEO with a former monk, is told in a new book: “The CEO & The Monk, One Company’s Journey to Profit and Purpose.”

Christmas came early for NRG Energy in 2003. First, the company emerged from bankruptcy protection earlier this month and last Tuesday NRG closed on a $2.7 billion financing package.

Just in time for the holidays, Cheniere Energy Inc. filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) applications for permits to construct liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminals in Sabine Pass, LA and Corpus Christi, TX along with two related natural gas pipelines

MRT said a System Protection Warning will become effective at the start of Friday’s gas day. The warning’s conditions are identical to those of one posted on Christmas Eve (see Daily GPI, Dec. 24, 2002).