The United States District Court for the Western District ofOklahoma dismissed the securities litigation filed in late 1997against Chesapeake Energy and its officers and directors and ruledin their favor. The litigation, which originally consisted of 12lawsuits but which was consolidated into one class action suit in1998, charged that Chesapeake had misstated or omitted factsconcerning its activities in the Louisiana Austin Chalk Trend fromJan. 25, 1996 through June 25, 1997. The shareholder suits allegedthat they had been mislead by Chesapeake into thinking that thecompany expected to operate successfully in the entire Austin Chalkarea, including the area outside Masters Creek, resulting in aninflated share price. Shareholders said rather than disclosingunsuccessful drilling results in the outer Masters Creek area,company insiders disposed of nearly 200,000 company shares with amarket value of about $2.2 million. In June 1997, Chesapeakeannounced it expected to take a full-cost write-down of itsinvestment in areas of Louisiana outside of Masters Creek totaling$150 million to $200 million. Following that, Chesapeake’s stockprice plummeted. In dismissing the plaintiffs’ amended complaint onMarch 3, the Court found that throughout the alleged class period,Chesapeake had disclosed to its investors the “precise risks”associated with its investments and activities in the LouisianaTrend. The court also determined that the plaintiffs had providedno factual support for their allegations of misstatements oromissions by Chesapeake.
Late
Articles from Late
Producers, Industrials Seek Major Changes to Order 637
Although industry comments on Order 637 still were tricklinginto FERC late Friday, it was clear that gas producers, both majorsand independents, and industrial customers had some of the biggestproblems with the final order by far, while the interstatepipelines and LDCs sought only minor tweaking of a “discrete” setof issues.
Early Futures Dip Brings Bulls out to Play
Fueled by a steady flow of short covering, natural gas futureserupted higher late yesterday morning as traders looked pastbearish storage data and focused on constructive short-term weatherand technicals. After testing support in the $2.65-67 area around10 a.m. (CST), the April contract rallied throughout the rest ofthe session to finish up 7.6 cents at $2.786.
Early AGA Release Lifts Futures Late
After piercing key resistance at $2.78 shortly before noon(EST), natural gas futures kicked into overdrive yesterday astraders discounted warm weather forecasts and added to their longpositions.
Late Buying Lifts March to Modest Advance
With little in the way of fresh news, natural gas futures limpedmostly sideways yesterday as cautious summer bulls matched upnearly perfectly with March bears. In fact, the only notablefeature in Thursday’s session was a rash of market-on-close buying,which firmed prices at the end. The March contract advanced 1.9cents to finish at $2.549 on its penultimate trading day.
El Paso Sells California Capacity to Affiliate
Foiled in its bid to sell 1.25 Bcf/d of capacity to Enron NorthAmerica, El Paso Natural Gas announced late yesterday the capacityhad been won in a rebid by affiliate, El Paso Merchant Energy-GasL.P. for $38.5 million.
Weather Forecasts Incite Late Sell-Off
To say the weather had an impact on the natural gas futuresmarket last week might be the biggest understatement of the newmillennium. After all, not a day went by that neither forecasters’predictions, nor ever-changing weather itself did not play intotraders’ decisions. Add to that the fact different independent andgovernmental forecasting agencies were not always in agreement. Itall came to a head last Friday when prices soared early in the dayin anticipation of the return of cold temperatures in the Northeastfor the weekend, only to come crashing down that afternoon upon therelease of a fresh medium-range forecast for this week. The Marchcontract was the hardest hit by the sell-off, tumbling 2.2 cents tofinish at $2.57 Friday. Less dependent on the near-term forecast,the outer months managed to hold onto small advances into theclose.
El Paso, Enron Terminate $38 Million Mega-Deal
In a stunning announcement late yesterday, El Paso Natural Gassaid it had reached a “mutual agreement” with Enron North AmericaCorp. to terminate the $38 million negotiated mega-deal for 1.2Bcf/d of capacity that the marketer had entered into in December.The negotiated arrangement covers three separate capacityagreements.
ONEOK Calls Off Southwest Merger
The financial risk associated with a lawsuit against its mergerpartner Southwest Gas forced ONEOK to call off the deal lateFriday.
Late Futures Sell-Off May Be Sign of Things to Come
In what may have been a Pyrrhic victory for bulls, natural gasprices cruised to its seventh straight advance yesterday as tradeand local buyers took the February contract to its highest level inalmost a month.
