Employee

Seattle-based R.W. Beck Group Inc. is to be acquired by McLean, VA-based Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), a $10.1 billion, 45,000-employee organization with ties to the U.S. departments of Defense, Homeland Security and intelligence agencies. R.W. Beck has clients in the public and private sectors, covering energy, water, wastewater and solid waste industries. SAIC said the deal includes acquiring Beck Disaster Recovery (BDR), an emergency management consulting businesses. R.W. Beck is the majority owner of BDR. R.W. Beck will join SAIC’s infrastructure, logistics and product solutions group led by Group President Joe Craver. It is one of four main segments of SAIC. The acquisition is expected to close at the beginning of August, subject to R.W. Beck shareholder approval and customary conditions.

The market value of crude oil put options purchased last year, along with the impact of a rising stock price on a stock-based employee compensation plan, made Nexen one of the few producers to report sharply lower first quarter 2005 financial results. The company’s net income was down 80% to 29 cents/share ($37 million) despite its cash flow being up 26% and its production being up about 0.8%.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas last week issued a permanent injunction against Texas resident Richard Hale and Texas-based Allegheny Gulf Investments Inc. that prohibits them from, among other things, controlling or directing any commodity futures or options trading accounts. The defendants also were ordered to pay a $440,000 fine for violations related to trading natural gas futures.

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas has issued a permanent injunction against Texas resident Richard Hale and Texas-based Allegheny Gulf Investments Inc. that prohibits them from, among other things, controlling or directing any commodity futures or options trading accounts. The defendants also were ordered to pay a $440,000 fine for violations related to trading natural gas futures.

The on-going “strategic reorganization” at Peoples Energy in Chicago is aimed at addressing lower returns from its regulated local distribution companies, the result of rising costs and declining deliveries engendered by 10 years of relatively mild winters in the upper Midwest, conservation and increasing numbers of new, energy efficient buildings.

The on-going “strategic reorganization” at Peoples Energy in Chicago is aimed at addressing lower returns from its regulated local distribution companies, the result of rising costs and declining deliveries engendered by 10 years of relatively mild winters in the upper Midwest, conservation and increasing numbers of new, energy efficient buildings.

Kerr-McGee Corp. has announced it will cut its U.S. non-union workforce by 7-9% or up to 250 employees in order to reduce costs. The job reductions and a plan to mitigate $15 million of future annual medical and pension expenses is expected to add up to about $45 million in savings.

Kerr-McGee Corp. has announced it will cut its U.S. non-union workforce by 7-9% or up to 250 employees in order to reduce costs. The job reductions and a plan to mitigate $15 million of future annual medical and pension expenses is expected to add up to about $45 million in savings.

Platts Global Energy said it has received a subpoena from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for documents, employee information, policies and customer lists for price reports it publishes in its energy publications. The subpoena is part of a broad investigation of energy trading practices the CFTC is conducting, that was sparked by disclosures about Enron. A number of energy companies already have provided information to the CFTC. Two companies, Dynegy and AEP have admitted they provided false data to some price reporting publications. The companies have not publicly identified the false reports by time or location, nor is there any information as to whether the false reports were used by the publications, which have screening methods to eliminate suspect information. The subpoena seeks a list of current and former Platts employees “responsible for gathering, editing, verifying and publishing the information” and policies and training manuals for new price reporters. It also demands notes and other records of third-party services used in price gathering, and any information that “indicates any person’s knowledge of false, inaccurate or otherwise incorrect pricing and volume information,” Platts said.