Executive

A former Enron Corp. executive testified Monday that ex-CFO Andrew Fastow helped set up a bogus transaction with Merrill Lynch to sell and then buy back some power generating barges to inflate Enron’s 1999 earnings.

Jamie Olis, 38, a former tax executive for Dynegy Inc., was sentenced Thursday to 24 years in prison for his role in disguising the company’s finances within a transaction dubbed “Project Alpha,” which hid $300 million in debt.

A U.S. district court judge in Houston last week denied a motion by a former Enron Corp. trading executive that sought to dismiss charges by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) that he manipulated or attempted to manipulate the wholesale natural gas market.

A U.S. district court judge in Houston this week denied a motion by a former Enron Corp. trading executive that sought to dismiss charges by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) last year that he manipulated or attempted to manipulate the wholesale natural gas market.

Sempra Energy LNG inked a letter of intent with BPMigas, Indonesia’s executive agency for oil and gas, and BP Indonesia Thursday to purchase liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies from Indonesia to be delivered to its planned terminal in North Baja California, Mexico. Top government energy officials from Mexico, Indonesia and the U.S. endorsed the agreement which was signed near the end of the two-day LNG Ministerial Summit in Washington, DC, last week.

Former Westar Energy CEO David C. Wittig and Douglas T. Lake, ex-executive vice president, were indicted last Wednesday by a federal grand jury in Topeka, KS, on 40 counts of conspiracy, fraud and related criminal charges.

Everything was on the “up and up” with former Dynegy Inc. executive Jamie Olis, his defense attorney said in opening arguments Tuesday. Instead, said attorney Terry Yates, former Dynegy auditor Arthur Andersen used “accounting tricks” that were most responsible for the design and mismanagement of Dynegy’s Project Alpha, a complex natural gas transaction first set up in 1998.

One day after Anadarko Petroleum Corp. President and CEO John Seitz resigned unexpectedly from his positions, analysts were scratching their heads looking for an explanation. The news came as a shock because it coincided with an energetic and optimistic investor webcast earlier in the month, which was met with positive reactions from some notable analysts.

One day after Anadarko Petroleum Corp. President and CEO John Seitz resigned unexpectedly from his positions, analysts were scratching their heads looking for an explanation. The news came as a shock because it coincided with an energetic and optimistic investor webcast late last week and positive reactions from some notable analysts.