Fires

El Paso Corp. announced that it had “completed the creation of a fit-for-purpose organization” last week that resulted in a 40% reduction in corporate officers, 21% of its directors and 9% of the rest of the organization, not including field operations or field services businesses.

The price fires got reignited Thursday in the shivering Northeast, only a day after early-week spikes had appeared to be settling down for the most part. Transco Zone 6-New York City prices topped out at $17.50 in super-volatile trading that saw the same point quoted at less than $9. Other Northeast points saw triple-digit gains in a few cases.

Because forest fires are currently active around TransCanada’s mainline Compressor Station 60 in northern Ontario, as a precaution the pipeline will not operate the Station 60 units until the situation improves. TransCanada said it does not anticipate the need for transportation restrictions unless changes in operational conditions or nomination levels require them.

El Paso Energy Partners LP (EPN) said Tuesday that it has started up operations at its Falcon Nest Platform at Mustang Island Block A103, located in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The platform is currently processing approximately 185 MMcf and 650 bbl of condensate per day from two wells in the Falcon Field.

Dynegy Inc. disclosed late in the day Friday that it had dismissed six employees and will discipline seven others in its natural gas trading business for violations of company policies. The violations are related to previously disclosed findings by the company that some employees in the marketing and trading unit provided inaccurate information on natural gas trades to various energy publications that compile and report index prices.

Morgan Stanley Capital Group Inc. revealed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week that it has been subpoenaed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as part of an energy trading investigation. The company, which markets gas and power, said it would cooperate with the CFTC but failed to provide further details about the investigation.

American Electric Power (AEP) said Wednesday it had dismissed five employees involved in natural gas marketing and trading after the company determined that they provided inaccurate price information for use in indexes compiled and published by trade publications.

Merrill Lynch & Co. last week terminated two high-level executives, including the vice chairman, for allegedly refusing to testify to federal officials about financial services agreements the company completed with Enron Corp., according to the Wall Street Journal.

Merrill Lynch & Co. on Wednesday terminated two high-level executives, including the vice chairman, for allegedly refusing to testify to federal officials about financial services agreements the company completed with Enron Corp., according to the Wall Street Journal.