Known

The Bush administration’s proposal to hold a 2007 sale in a two-million-acre section of a natural gas-rich offshore area known as Lease Sale 181 is a step in the right direction, but it doesn’t go far enough, said officials from six offshore groups.

Former Enron Corp. CEO Jeffrey Skilling used to have a lot of trouble keeping his mouth shut. Known for being brash, opinionated and at times foul-mouthed, he used to boast that Enron would be the world’s largest company. However, since resigning in August 2001, Skilling has been mostly silent, seen more often in the gossip pages for his public behavior than talking about the charges against him. Next week, however, he will tell his side of the story.

After implicating Enron Corp.’s ex-CEO Jeffrey Skilling in many of the company’s illegal deals, former CFO Andrew Fastow fingered Enron founder Kenneth Lay on Wednesday, testifying that Lay not only knew about the financial shenanigans before the company dissolved into bankruptcy, but also actively took part in deceiving shareholders and the news media.

Until it is known how states and FERC are “going to play in the sandbox together” in a post-Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 (PUHCA) world, there are likely to be at least some potential merger candidates that will remain on the sidelines, a top official with Lehman Brothers said last Wednesday. Under the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct), PUHCA will be officially repealed in February 2006.

While it will be approximately three months until final results are known, the U.S. Minerals Management Service’s (MMS) is ranking its Western Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale 196 — which was held Wednesday morning in New Orleans — as a success, with a number of companies making a strong showing (see Daily GPI, Aug. 18).

EOG Resources’ CEO Mark Papa may call it “weird” gas, but coalbed methane (CBM), tight sandstone, biogenic gas and shale formations, otherwise known as unconventional natural gas resources, are an increasingly important component of the North American natural gas supply.

EOG Resources’ CEO Mark Papa may call it “weird” gas, but coalbed methane (CBM), tight sandstone, biogenic gas and shale formations, otherwise known as unconventional natural gas resources, are an increasingly important component of the North American natural gas supply.

Dick Sharples, a well-known and much-respected member of the natural gas community, died suddenly of cancer early Thursday. Sharples, an executive with Anadarko Petroleum for many years, retired from that company last year and took over as executive director of the new Center for Liquefied Natural Gas (CLNG).

A combination of underlying factors, some of them unexpected and not widely known, probably will lead to another record for average annual natural gas prices this year, speakers at GasMart in New Orleans said on Thursday. Some of the causes are clear, including lower production and record high crude oil prices, while others are not as clear, such as the weak dollar and rising industrial output despite high fuel costs.