Clearly

The premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, clearly incensed, walked out of talks with the Canadian government Wednesday over sharing oil and natural gas revenues, saying the province does not plan to continue negotiating.

The premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, clearly incensed, walked out of talks with the Canadian government Wednesday over sharing oil and natural gas revenues, saying the province does not plan to continue negotiating.

The game clearly is not over for the $180 million Islander East pipeline project despite the expectations of many in the gas industry. Commerce Secretary Donald Evans has overruled the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) consistency determination by the State of Connecticut, removing a major roadblock to the 50-mile, 260 MMcf/d pipeline.

Although clearly an attempt by FERC to extend an olive branch to states and regions miffed by certain elements of the federal agency’s pending standard market design (SMD) proposal, the head of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC) last Tuesday said that an SMD white paper recently unveiled by FERC doesn’t go far enough in meeting state concerns over retail electric jurisdictional issues.

With Republicans clearly in control of both the Senate and House following last Tuesday’s mid-term elections, energy industry and Capitol Hill sources said they expect congressional approval of an omnibus energy bill to be delayed, possibly until next year, so GOP lawmakers can craft legislation “more to their liking.” They also foresee an end to “FERC bashing” at hearings.

With Republicans clearly in control of both the Senate and House following Tuesday’s elections, energy industry and Capitol Hill sources said they expect congressional approval of an omnibus energy bill to be delayed, possibly for another year, so that GOP lawmakers can craft legislation “more to their liking.” They also foresee an end to “FERC bashing” at hearings.

Clearly unimpressed with NRG Energy’s efforts so far to unload more than 12,000 MW in power assets that it desperately needs to sell in order to shore up its finances, Moody’s Investors Service last Thursday lowered the debt ratings on the Minneapolis-based subsidiary of Xcel Energy. Fearing that Xcel Energy will get burned by the large amount of investments it has made in NRG Energy, Moody’s also lowered the debt ratings on Xcel Energy.

SEC Chairman Harvey L. Pitt said Thursday the failure of Enron and its auditor Arthur Andersen clearly exposes the defects in the country’s “vaunted system of disclosure, financial reporting, corporate governance and accounting practices,” and the need to develop an entirely new method of financial oversight. Pitt outlined a Securities and Exchange Commission plan to form a new public entity that will be empowered to perform investigations, bring disciplinary proceedings, publicize results and restrict individuals and firms from auditing public companies.

Kinder Morgan, Inc. may not be recession-proof, but its fee-based portfolio of midstream assets clearly felt no ill effects during the third quarter, according to CEO Richard Kinder. The company produced a 109% increase in third quarter net income to $58.2 million, or $0.48 per diluted common share, exceeding Wall Street consensus estimates by 2 cents/share. The results compared to $26.7 million, or $0.23 per diluted common share, in the third quarter of 2000.