Execs

The overwhelming Republican takeover of the U.S. House of Representatives last week pasted happy faces on natural gas and oil industry execs and spurred President Obama to mention natural gas as a possible area of compromise with the new Congress. The president, however, appeared to be the only one talking compromise.

A shareholder derivative lawsuit was filed in a New Jersey state court on Friday by two pension funds that accuse Royal Dutch/Shell Group, former and current executives and auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG of failing to properly monitor company management.

A shareholder derivative lawsuit was filed in a New Jersey state court on Friday by two pension funds that accuse Royal Dutch/Shell Group, former and current executives and auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG of failing to properly monitor company management.

Officials from energy trading exchanges recently agreed that liquidity in energy markets continues to improve after a prolonged period of the doldrums resulting from Enron Corp.’s historic collapse in late 2001 and a string of subsequent scandals that throttled the energy sector and cast a pall over the future direction of trading.

Regulatory uncertainty, system reliability and aging physical infrastructure are the three most critical issues facing the electric power industry, but they will be difficult to fix unless they are solved simultaneously, according to a new survey of utility company executives.

Exploration and production companies warned Alaska state officials at the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce last week that stricter regulations and possibly higher taxes could threaten many producers’ exploration and production plans. Their comments precede a legislative special session scheduled this week to work on a proposed fiscal plan to offset state deficits.

Exploration and production companies have warned Alaska state officials at the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce this week that stricter regulations and possibly higher taxes could threaten many producers’ exploration and production plans. Their comments precede a legislative special session next week to work on a proposed fiscal plan to offset state deficits.

In a message aimed indirectly at California regulators, Sempra Energy senior officials told financial analysts Thursday that the current statewide natural gas market restructuring proceeding could end up lower costs for retail customers if the regulators opt for new transportation capacity from North Baja and the Rockies.

While the outlook was rosier than it has been in more than three years, some of the 200-300 PG&E Corp. shareholders attending the corporate annual meeting Wednesday in San Francisco tossed some verbal grenades at CEO Robert Glynn for the company’s $83 million bonus program last year for 17 of the top executives, including Glynn himself, who pocketed the single biggest bonus at $17 million.