Injunction

FERC last Tuesday denied producer-shippers’ request for a Commission injunction to block Rockies Express Pipeline (REX) from carrying out hydrostatic testing on its line, a move that producers contend will shut in half of the Rockies natural gas flowing on the pipeline at the height of hurricane and storage injection seasons. Rockies produers’ gas prices fell below $1 at the start of the testing, but then quickly rebounded.

FERC Tuesday denied producer-shippers’ request for a Commission injunction to block Rockies Express Pipeline (REX) from carrying out hydrostatic testing on its line beginning Wednesday, a move that producers contend could shut in half of the Rockies natural gas flowing on the pipeline at the height of hurricane and storage injection seasons.

Major producers have asked FERC for an immediate injunction and expedited technical conference to bar Rockies Express Pipeline (REX) from carrying out hydrostatic testing on its line in September, a move that they say could shut in half of the Rockies natural gas flowing on the pipeline at the height of hurricane and storage injection seasons.

Major producers have asked FERC for an immediate injunction and expedited technical conference to bar Rockies Express Pipeline (REX) from carrying out hydrostatic testing on its line in September, a move that could shut in half of the Rockies natural gas flowing on the pipeline at the height of hurricane and storage injection seasons.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has obtained a $55,000 civil monetary penalty and a permanent injunction in a consent order settling charges against Michael Whitney, a former Houston-based natural gas trader and marketing representative at Duke Energy Trading and Marketing LLC.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) entered into a consent order of permanent injunction with former Mirant energy trader Paul Atha, settling charges that he falsely reported and attempted to manipulate natural gas prices.

BP plc CEO John Browne abruptly resigned Tuesday after a British court removed an injunction that had prevented a newspaper group from publishing stories about his personal life. Tony Hayward, slated to move into the top spot this summer, was named CEO effective immediately.

Kerr-McGee Oil and Gas Corp. has asked a federal court for a declaratory judgment and an injunction against the Interior Department and Johnnie Burton, Interior’s acting assistant secretary for Land and Minerals Management, saying the government is illegally attempting to force Kerr-McGee to pay royalties on deepwater Gulf of Mexico production exempted by law from royalties.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas last week issued a permanent injunction against Texas resident Richard Hale and Texas-based Allegheny Gulf Investments Inc. that prohibits them from, among other things, controlling or directing any commodity futures or options trading accounts. The defendants also were ordered to pay a $440,000 fine for violations related to trading natural gas futures.