Citigroup

Magnum Hunter Resources Corp. unit Bakken Hunter LLC has agreed to acquire Williston Basin properties from an affiliate of Baytex Energy Corp. for $311 million in cash. The company also said Wednesday it is trimming spending in Appalachia because of low natural gas prices.

Williams hasn’t given up on a plan to steal Southern Union Co. from Energy Transfer Equity LP (ETE) and late Tuesday offered to buy the company for $44/share in cash — the same amount on paper that it offered in July.

The Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Thursday morning report that 23 Bcf was injected into underground storage for the week ended April 6 received little fanfare from traders as May natural gas futures traded a slim 9-cent range before settling at $7.924, up 6.9 cents on the day. Instead, attention was paid to the winter 2008 contracts, some of which have recently cracked the $10 price level.

News of a tropical wave approaching the Caribbean Sea, generally warm to hot weather in most of the nation, the end of weekend OFOs on several pipes and the usual rebound in load following a long weekend were cited by sources in explaining Monday’s double-digit gains at nearly all points.

UBS Warburg, a subsidiary of Switzerland-based UBS AG, beat out Citigroup as high bidder for Enron Corp.’s once mighty wholesale energy trading unit on Friday, according to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of New York. No details of the bid were released, but Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez was expected to making a ruling on whether to accept the bid after Enron had presented it to the court Friday. Enron lawyer Martin Bienenstock has requested a court ruling on the bid — whether to accept or deny it — be made on Tuesday.

UBS Warburg, a subsidiary of Switzerland-based UBS AG, beat out Citigroup as high bidder for Enron Corp.’s once mighty wholesale energy trading unit, according to an announcement Friday by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of New York, which also ruled against moving the case to Houston. No details of the bid were released. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez has scheduled a hearing at 2 p.m. EST on Thursday (Jan. 17) to consider final approval for the transaction.