Investing

GE Energy Financial Services, a unit of GE, said Monday it is expanding its oil and gas reserves investing business by offering loans for development drilling.

With all forecasts pointing to continued strong growth in energy demand in the coming years, Chevron Corp. is investing in a “world-class queue of projects,” with most of the money now gas-focused, company executives said Wednesday.

Like its affiliated Sempra Energy utility in California, San Diego Gas & Electric Co. (SDG&E) announced Tuesday that it has up to $40 million in rebates and incentives for businesses investing in various energy efficiency projects this year. SDG&E made the announcement at an annual energy meeting drawing about 1,200 business representatives in San Diego.

News that famed investor Warren Buffett plans to plow more money into the nation’s power industry by investing in transmission lines and power plants and will take other steps to bolster power reliability in the U.S. has FERC Chairman Patrick Wood feeling pretty good as he prepares to depart the federal agency, since these are top priorities for the Commission.

Trinidad’s Energy Minister Eric Williams told Reuters New Service this week that Trinidad and Tobago is considering investing in a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in the United States. He did not say whether an existing or proposed terminal was being considered. Trinidad is the largest supplier of LNG to the United States. The Atlantic LNG joint venture, which includes The National Gas Company of Trinidad, BP, BG Group, Repsol and Tractebel, currently has three LNG supply trains operating and a fourth under construction. Trinidad and Tobago produces about 2.8 Bcf/d currently, and the government expects output to rise to about 3 Bcf/d by the end of the year.

Melbourne, Australia-based BHP Billiton said last week that it is investing $100 million in two limited liability companies that will transport natural gas and oil from the group’s recently sanctioned Mad Dog development and its Atlantis discovery, both in the ultra-deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM). The company said the pipelines are part of a new system being built in the southern Green Canyon area that also will transport oil and gas from the BP-operated Holstein development and potentially other fields.

Melbourne, Australia-based BHP Billiton said earlier in the week that it is investing $100 million in two limited liability companies that will transport natural gas and oil from the group’s recently sanctioned Mad Dog development and its Atlantis discovery, both in the ultra-deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM). The company said the pipelines are part of a new system being built in the southern Green Canyon area that also will transport oil and gas from the BP-operated Holstein development and potentially other fields.

It’s not nice to fool the investing public — energy companies and their auditors are learning as Enron’s collapse continues to spark a tidal wave of investigations, recriminations and falling stock prices. Not only the companies are under attack but also the investment analysts who follow them and even the watchdog Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) itself is coming under fire for a “failure of leadership,” for abdicating its responsibility to set strict financial reporting standards.

It’s not nice to fool the investing public — energy companies and their auditors are learning as Enron’s collapse continues to spark a tidal wave of investigations, recriminations and falling stock prices. Not only the companies are under attack but also the investment analysts who follow them and even the watchdog Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) itself is coming under fire for a “failure of leadership,” for abdicating its responsibility to set strict financial reporting standards.