Himself

Wyoming’s state oil/gas supervisor found himself Wednesday cross ways with Gov. Matt Mead regarding the continuing multi-governmental scrutiny of the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) two test water wells in natural gas fields near Pavillion, WY. EPA initially identified a possible link between hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and local drinking water contamination.

Chevron Corp. CEO John Watson on Wednesday found himself face to face with some rambunctious activists who came to the annual shareholder meeting in San Ramon, CA, to voice their opposition to the oil major’s global drilling practices. In the end, however, the company’s majority shareholders won the day, turning back resolutions that included calling for more disclosure about hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking).

A Mexican federal district court hearing set for last Wednesday was postponed after the judge in the case removed himself from the proceeding involving Sempra Energy’s North Baja California liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal and a disgruntled adjacent landowner, a San Diego-based Sempra spokesperson told NGI.

Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman Tuesday checked himself into Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston after experiencing an elevated heart rate. He is “resting comfortably” and will remain in the hospital for a few days to undergo a series of routine tests, according to a department spokeswoman. Bodman is 69.

With one commissioner dissenting and another recusing himself, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) Thursday voted 3-1 to authorize the confidential natural gas wholesale hedging plans of the state’s three major private-sector gas utilities for the coming winter season. The approval places all the costs and benefits of the programs on the utilities’ ratepayers who are the beneficiaries of the hedging, the CPUC said, although Commissioner Geoffrey Brown disagreed.

With one commissioner dissenting and another recusing himself, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) Thursday voted 3-1 to authorize the confidential natural gas wholesale hedging plans of the state’s three major private-sector gas utilities for the coming winter season. The approval places all the costs and benefits of the programs on the utilities’ ratepayers who are the beneficiaries of the hedging, the CPUC said, although Commissioner Geoffrey Brown disagreed.

After spending four days on the witness stand defending himself, former Enron Corp. CEO Jeffrey Skilling finally appeared to have had enough on Thursday. He angrily accused the government of “rewriting history” and of trying to pin the blame for the company’s collapse on “innocent people.”

Enron Corp.’s former CEO Jeffrey Skilling was indicted by a Houston grand jury Wednesday and is expected to turn himself into the FBI authorities Thursday, according to unnamed sources quoted by The Houston Chronicle.

Like a stunned boxer that twice tries but fails to lift himself off the mat, the natural gas futures market was unable to recover Thursday following the release of storage data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showing a larger-than-expected 64 Bcf injection. After dropping a cool 10 cents in 10 minutes following the report, the August contract looked like it might rebound before lunchtime. However, that rally and a similar one in the early afternoon fizzled, leaving prices to sift downward and close just off their lows. At $2.902, the August contract finished with a 14-cent decline for the session.