Deliberating

Two weeks after a newly formed state oil and gas board met to begin deliberating North Carolina’s regulation of hydraulic fracturing (fracking), an environmental group has released a report of what it says are wide-ranging negative ramifications of the practice.

Eight years after their crimes were committed and two years after their convictions, two former natural gas traders were sentenced to prison terms by a Houston judge Thursday for reporting false price data to energy industry price index publishers.

Jurors deliberating for the ninth day in Arthur Andersen LLP’s obstruction of justice trial were awaiting a ruling by the presiding Houston judge Friday afternoon that may offer crucial guidance in determining a decision of guilt or innocence. Judge Melinda Harmon was asked by the jurors to rule on whether they all must agree on which individual at Andersen acted corruptly when the firm destroyed Enron Corp. records last fall.