Closed

Iberdrola SA’s acquisition of Portland, ME-based Energy East Corp. for an estimated $4.5 billion closed Wednesday, Iberdrola said, marking the largest industrial transaction ever carried out by a Spanish company in the United States.

A coalition of five Senate Republicans and five Democrats — known as the “Gang of 10” — Thursday unveiled comprehensive, bipartisan legislation offering what appeared to be the first real compromise on offshore drilling, proposing to open additional Gulf of Mexico areas and allow the states of Virginia, North and South Carolina and Georgia to opt into leasing off their shores. The measure would not open coastal areas off states such as New Jersey and California, which have bitterly opposed offshore drilling.

Black Hills Corp. and Great Plains Energy Inc. closed their asset purchase and merger of Aquila Inc. last Monday, the companies said. The closing was effective last Monday for legal, accounting and operational purposes.

Black Hills Corp. and Great Plains Energy Inc. closed their asset purchase and merger of Aquila Inc. Monday, the companies said. The closing is effective Monday for legal, accounting and operational purposes.

Natural gas futures finished the week on a weak note Friday despite another record run higher in neighboring crude futures. August natural gas closed Friday’s regular session at $11.904, down 39.6 cents from Thursday and $1.673 lower than the previous week’s finish.

July natural gas futures closed sharply higher Monday as weather forecasters called for normal to above-normal temperatures across the country. Traders noted a strong technical feature to the market and said they expect a settlement above $13 this week. At the close July had added 30.8 cents in rising to $12.933 and August futures gained 30.9 cents to $13.037. July crude oil eased 25 cents to $134.61/bbl.

July natural gas futures closed higher Wednesday in spite of another losing day for crude oil. Traders also ignored the completion of repairs to the Independence Hub production platform in the Gulf of Mexico and elected to focus on expected warm weather in Midwest and eastern energy markets. At the close of floor trading July futures were up 15.8 cents to $12.379 and August added 14.0 cents to $12.442. July crude oil skidded $2.01 to $122.30/bbl.

May natural gas futures were able to shrug off potentially bearish news and closed at a new all-time high Wednesday for the price advance that began in December. The May contract rose 17.4 cents to $10.781 and the June contract added 18.3 cents to settle at $10.946. June crude oil gained 23 cents to $118.30/bbl.

The deepwater Gulf of Mexico Independence Hub natural gas platform and the associated Independence Trail pipeline were closed Wednesday after a leak was discovered in the pipe, according to Enterprise Products Partners LP, which owns 80% of the production platform and 100% of the pipeline.