Consequences

There would be progressively greater impacts on natural gas consumption, prices and domestic supply if any or all of three restricted gas supply scenarios studied by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) occurred, the agency said in a special report released last week.

There would be progressively greater impacts on natural gas consumption, prices and domestic supply if any or all of three restricted gas supply scenarios studied by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) occurred, the agency said in a special report released Monday.

El Paso Corp.’s quick response to negative reports about its off-balance sheet transactions may have stopped its stock from sliding even further Tuesday, finally closing down almost 7% to $39.17. The stock had slid to almost $36 early in the day after rumors surfaced that the Houston-based company had conducted related-party deals similar to those conducted by bankrupt Enron Corp.

Anxious Houston-based employees Friday were waiting for formal news that their employer, Enron Corp., had filed for bankruptcy, expected to be the largest in U.S. history, and waited to learn whether layoffs will begin in the United States as they have in Europe. Across the country, others kept an eye on whether Enron would file a lawsuit against its short-term merger partner Dynegy Corp. for backing out of the transaction last week. Meanwhile, companies that had once dealt with the former trend-setting energy trader began tallying their own expected losses should Enron go under, and in Washington, DC, legislators announced they would begin investigating exactly who knew what when.

Nymex got final approval for its demutualization plan from theInternal Revenue Service, which said there would be no taxconsequences for the organization or its members. The plan, whichcalls for the equity in the exchange to remain with the seat-ownersof its Nymex Division, will make the exchange the first in New Yorkto convert from a not-for-profit membership structure to afor-profit organization.