Dead

Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) last Monday took dead aim at press reports that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is preparing to roll out plans that will call for a shift away from using the stick of lawsuits to enforce clean air regulations in favor of a carrot-like approach that will urge electric utilities to voluntarily reduce toxic emissions.

eNymex, as originally conceived is dead, but the idea of providing over-the-counter (OTC) energy products lives on through Nymex Access, a spokeswoman for the New York Mercantile Exchange said Monday in an interview with NGI.

Enron Corp. is in shreds, literally and figuratively, with a week marked by dramatic accusations, the founder quietly resigning, and a former vice chairman tragically dying from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. As Congress began its intense investigations of the company and its auditor, Arthur Andersen, there only was one tiny bit of good news for the company and its supporters. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York approved a deal for UBS Warburg to pick up its quickly fading wholesale energy trading unit.

Interest in pipeline capacity auctions is far from dead at theFederal Energy Regulatory Commission. Just ask FERC’s Kevin Madden,who hasn’t given up on them and thinks they have a major role toplay in the natural gas industry.

Natural Gas Pipeline Co. of America’s (NGPL) interpretation of aNovember order addressing its auctioning practices was dead wrong,FERC said last week in denying the pipeline’s request forrehearing.

After having been told to drop dead by Texaco in a publicstatement released in June, Chevron now apparently is courtingPhillips Petroleum, a smaller prize but still a significantconsolation if accomplished. Reports surfaced over the weekend inthe British Sunday Times in London that Chevron was willing to paya 20% premium and that triggered a 5% spike in Phillips shareprices yesterday. The companies would neither confirm nor deny therumors, but Phillips shares closed up $2.81 yesterday at $56.56,well above its 52-week high. A 20% premium would put the purchaseprice near $17.2 billion. Chevron stock, meanwhile, took a slight88-cent dip yesterday to $92.12/share.

In what one observer described as one of the first “blunders”among energy mergers, Sempra Energy and KN Energy last weekmutually agreed to call off their $6 billion marriage, which wasfirst announced in February.

In what one observer described as one of the first “blunders”among energy mergers, Sempra Energy and KN Energy said yesterdaythey have mutually agreed to call off their $6 billion marriage,which was first announced in February. The two companies said thatas they were studying the integration process they discovered thecombined company “would not be able to realize the businessobjectives they originally anticipated.”

“Dead” was the popular word used by traders to describe thestagnant cash market Thursday, where prices showed very little, ifany, change from the prior day. Most sources believe that shortcovering is the main factor helping cash maintain current pricelevels amid the lack of any meaningful fundamental support.