Cutting

After notching a new 16-month high and cutting a wide 27-cent trading range last Thursday, natural gas futures settled down on Friday as buyers stepped back to survey the situation. Without that buying pressure, the market dropped precipitously at mid-day only to rebound modestly at the closing bell. November closed at $4.239, down 6 cents for the session, but up 9.3 cents for the week.

Cutting the credit rating of Reliant Resources Inc. (RRI) and related entities to “junk” status Friday, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) said the ratings for the companies will remain on negative CreditWatch until debt and credit facility questions can be resolved.

Cutting the credit rating of Reliant Resources Inc. (RRI) and related entities to “junk” status Friday, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) said the ratings for the companies will remain on negative CreditWatch until debt and credit facility questions can be resolved.

CMS Energy Corp. has thrown out its speculative energy trading business and with it, cut 50 energy traders, about 25% of the workforce, in a plan designed to clean the balance sheet and improve cash flow. The Dearborn, MI-based company also revised its earnings outlook for 2002, and is selling more assets as it continues a “back-to-basics” program centered around its regulated assets in North America.

Williams CEO Steve Malcolm said his company is cutting $50 million in annual expenses in an effort to strengthen its balance sheet and prepare for the possibility that it will have to assume $2.2 billion in debt from its former communications subsidiary.

While many producers are cutting spending plans this year because of sharply lower domestic oil and gas prices, Marathon Oil Corp. said it would raise its capital investment and exploration spending by 3% to $1.8 billion for 2002 and would double spending on acquisitions.

Despite cutting its overall capital spending budget for exploration and production programs this year by 13% to $1.67 billion, PanCanadian plans to maintain its spending levels on natural gas E&P and still expects a 10% increase in North American gas production over 2001 levels.

ChevronTexaco Corp. informed the Securities and Exchange Commission last week that it has started to lay off 7% of its work force, or about 4,000 employees out of a total of 57,000, as part of a program designed to trim $1.2 billion/year in overhead following its merger. The cuts are in line with what the companies expected last year when their merger was first announced.

ChevronTexaco Corp. informed the Securities and Exchange Commission this week that it has started to lay off 7% of its work force, or about 4,000 employees out of a total of 57,000, as part of a program designed to trim $1.2 billion/year in overhead following its merger. The cuts are in line with what the companies expected last year when their merger was first announced.