Fought

Capping a full day of debate on the financial regulatory reform bill Wednesday, the Senate fought back Republican efforts to strike a provision that would force large banks and financial institutions to spin off their lucrative derivatives business.

Canadian producers have won an exceptionally hard-fought battle — which escalated into a human rights dispute — in a continuing war to maintain a prime drilling target, “sour” reserves laced with lethal hydrogen-sulphide.

Canadian producers have won an exceptionally hard-fought battle — which escalated into a human rights dispute — in a continuing war to maintain a prime drilling target, “sour” reserves laced with lethal hydrogen-sulphide.

The energy industry won a hard-fought victory Saturday when the Senate overwhelmingly approved legislation to open up parts of the natural gas-rich eastern Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas leasing. The vote came only hours after the House passed the measure Friday by 367-45 (see Daily GPI, Dec. 11).

While the Senate successfully fought off Democratic efforts to levy a windfall profits tax on the earnings of major energy companies in the $60 billion tax reconciliation bill that was passed early Friday, lawmakers added nearly $5 billion to the tax burden of oil companies and repealed tax benefits that were approved in the energy bill in August.

Natural gas futures on Tuesday fought to take back some of their Monday losses, but failed to scale the psychological $6 level. After reaching $5.99 just before 1 p.m. (EST), February natural gas retreated to settle at $5.902, preserving an 11.2-cent gain on the session.

Breaking the five-day string of settling lower, the Nymex May natural gas futures contract on Tuesday fought its way to a gain of 4.4 cents. After falling to a low of $5.485 around noon eastern time, the prompt month spent the rest of the afternoon clawing its way back up to settle at $5.553.

Republican members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee fought off Democratic efforts Wednesday to significantly expand FERC’s powers to punish “bad actors” who commit fraud and manipulation in the natural gas and electricity markets.

By a four-vote margin last Wednesday, the Senate fought off a mostly Republican drive to clear the path for future oil and natural gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). It marked the second time in less than a year that the Senate has voted down ANWR energy development, but the margin of victory has slimmed considerably.