Improve

In a press release ostensibly to announce a stock issuance to improve its liquidity and pay down some debt, TXU Corp. acknowledged Monday that it has received an informal data request from the Securities and Exchange Commission that asks the company to “voluntarily provide documents related to its recent dividend declaration.” TXU said it would comply fully with the request, and does not anticipate “any adverse consequences.”

Drilling and oilfield services firm Nabors Industries Ltd. said the continuing depressed drilling market and low margins in part led to a 75% drop in its net income in the third quarter to $26.9 million, or 18 cents/diluted share, from $108.2 million or 68 cents/diluted share in 3Q2001.

Drilling and oilfield services firm Nabors Industries Ltd. said the continuing depressed drilling market and low margins in part led to a 75% drop in its net income in the third quarter to $26.9 million, or 18 cents/diluted share, from $108.2 million or 68 cents/diluted share in 3Q2001.

American Electric Power (AEP) has asked the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to determine which of its 16 natural gas-fired power plants in the state’s grid system, which have remained idle for most of this year, have to remain activated. AEP plans to mothball some or all of the Texas power plants by the end of the year if they are not on the state’s “reliability must run” (RMR) list, to boost the company’s bottom line.

The Williams Companies continues to plan asset sales to strengthen its liquidity and improve its balance sheet. The company announced Tuesday that it is considering selling its ownership interest in an olefins production plant in Geismar, LA, and an associated ethylene pipeline system in Louisiana, as well as a Baltic refinery. Terms of a potential petrochemical asset sale have not been developed, but Williams said it has received unsolicited expressions of interest.

In an effort to improve its supply diversity on its Texas Gas Transmission (TGT) system, a unit of Williams said last week that it is connecting to a “significant” new supply source in offshore Louisiana at East Cameron Block 9 in the Gulf of Mexico, which is being developed by Energy Partners, Ltd.

Seeking to improve market transparency and provide a better means to detect and discourage discriminatory practices, FERC last Wednesday said that it would replace a number of reporting filings currently made by the power industry with a quarterly electronic report, which the Commission believes will equalize reporting requirements for both traditional public utilities and power marketers and make information more easily available to the public.

FPL Group expects more than $10 billion of power-related assets to be put up for sale as generators continue to look for ways to improve their balance sheets, Lewis Hay, FPL’s CEO, told a gathering of investment professionals last Tuesday in an appearance before the Morgan Stanley global electricity and energy conference in New York. If the rumblings of investment bankers are to be believed, another $5 billion to $10 billion worth of power plant property could also be waiting in the wings for companies looking to scoop up assets in a market that appears to remain firmly on the side of buyers.

Cambridge Energy Research Associate’s Tom Robinson said this week that by the end of the year his firm expects gas market fundamentals to begin showing signs of improving with the gas supply bubble deflating significantly. And while there will be plenty of supply through 2002, said Robinson, it will, of course, depend on how hot it is this summer.