Division

The U.S. District Court for Montana, the Helena Division, has approved a $15 million class-action settlement of a lawsuit that alleged Devon Energy Corp. underpaid natural gas royalties to the owners of minerals rights in the state.

The independent consumer unit at the California Public Utilities Commission, the Division of Ratepayer Advocates (DRA), July 5 released a recommendation to slash by $180 million the retail rates of Sempra Energy’s two California utilities, Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) and San Diego Gas and Electric Co. (SDG&E). An administrative law judge will later make a separate recommendation in the case.

The independent consumer unit at the California Public Utilities Commission, the Division of Ratepayer Advocates (DRA), Thursday released a recommendation to slash by $180 million the retail rates of Sempra Energy’s two California utilities, Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) and San Diego Gas and Electric Co. (SDG&E). An administrative law judge will later make a separate recommendation in the case.

The Colorado division of the Bureau of Land Management will offer 86,599 acres of federal land in an oral oil and gas lease auction on Aug. 9 at the BLM Colorado State Office in Lakewood. The sale includes a total of 109 parcels, including 75 parcels totaling 43,471 acres that are held in split-estate ownership. The BLM said it is notifying the public of the sale 60 days in advance, rather than the legally required 45-day notice. The auction rules call for a $2 per acre minimum bid in bonuses on any parcel plus an administrative fee of $130 per parcel. The buyer will pay the bid price for the right to obtain the federal lease, in addition to a standard $1.50 per acre rental for the first five years and $2.00 per acre thereafter. If and when a lease becomes producing, a royalty of 12.5% will be collected by the federal government. Leases are for a primary term of 10 years and “will continue beyond [their] primary term as long as oil or gas is produced in paying quantities,” BLM said. Lynn Rust, Colorado BLM deputy state director, noted that “while energy development on Colorado’s federal lands continues to play an important part in meeting our nation’s energy needs, our focus is on smart planning and working with industry to use best practices to reduce environmental impacts on public and private lands.” The complete list of parcels is available on the Colorado BLM website, http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/BLM_Programs/oilandgas/leasing.html. Protests for the Aug. 9, oil and gas lease auction are due at the BLM Colorado State Office by 4 p.m. on July 25. The BLM has tentatively scheduled its next lease auction for Nov. 8.

The Colorado division of the Bureau of Land Management will offer 86,599 acres of federal land in an oral oil and gas lease auction on Aug. 9 at the BLM Colorado State Office in Lakewood. The sale includes a total of 109 parcels, including 75 parcels totaling 43,471 acres that are held in split-estate ownership. The BLM said it is notifying the public of the sale 60 days in advance, rather than the legally required 45-day notice. The auction rules call for a $2 per acre minimum bid in bonuses on any parcel plus an administrative fee of $130 per parcel. The buyer will pay the bid price for the right to obtain the federal lease, in addition to a standard $1.50 per acre rental for the first five years and $2.00 per acre thereafter. If and when a lease becomes producing, a royalty of 12.5% will be collected by the federal government. Leases are for a primary term of 10 years and “will continue beyond [their] primary term as long as oil or gas is produced in paying quantities,” BLM said. Lynn Rust, Colorado BLM deputy state director, noted that “while energy development on Colorado’s federal lands continues to play an important part in meeting our nation’s energy needs, our focus is on smart planning and working with industry to use best practices to reduce environmental impacts on public and private lands.” The complete list of parcels is available on the Colorado BLM website, http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/BLM_Programs/oilandgas/leasing.html. Protests for the Aug. 9, oil and gas lease auction are due at the BLM Colorado State Office by 4 p.m. on July 25. The BLM has tentatively scheduled its next lease auction for Nov. 8.

The former COO of Enron Corp.’s Internet division, Enron Broadband Services (EBS), was sentenced in Houston Monday to two years in federal prison.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Thursday unveiled new detailed energy market statistics pages on its website that were produced by its Energy Market Oversight (EMO) division. The pages display charts and graphs of current market fundamentals and detailed regional statistics on natural gas and power supply, demand, flows, gas storage and prices.

Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of Barclays plc, said it bought a 40% stake in private equity firm NGP Energy Capital, giving Barclays a bigger stake in the North American energy capital management business. The deal follows Barclays Capital’s assumption of Duke Energy North America’s natural gas and power derivative contracts last November (see NGI, Nov. 21, 2005).

Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of Barclays plc, said it bought a 40% stake in private equity firm NGP Energy Capital, giving Barclays a bigger stake in the North American energy capital management business. The deal follows Barclays Capital’s assumption of Duke Energy North America’s natural gas and power derivative contracts last November (see Daily GPI, Nov. 21, 2005).