Leaders

A solid majority of close to 100 energy leaders meeting behind closed doors in Houston Monday endorsed the proposition that a competing mixture of financial, journalistic and academic institutions and FERC should collect energy price data, while Commission Chairman Pat Wood, acknowledged that current price indexes appear to function well.

Enron? Enron who? That may well be the response by the leaders in NGI ‘s quarterly ranking of North American gas marketers after the former market leader, which had led the rankings since 1997, was displaced by companies that have traditionally done well but never grabbed the brass ring in gas sales. Mirant, which last year bought TransCanada — another top 20 contender in year-end rankings — pulled to the top of the list in the final quarter of 2001, with a near-111% jump in sales, followed closely by Aquila, which saw its sales increase 35%.

Enron? Enron who? That may well be the response by the leaders in NGI’s quarterly ranking of North American gas marketers after the former market leader, which had led the rankings since 1997, was displaced by companies that have traditionally done well but never grabbed the brass ring in gas sales. Mirant, which last year bought TransCanada — another top 20 contender in year-end rankings — pulled to the top of the list in the final quarter of 2001, with a near-111% jump in sales, followed closely by Aquila, which saw its sales increase 35%.

The oil and natural gas industry’s “greatest contribution can be to ensure that supplies of fuel to American consumers continue uninterrupted. Americans should be assured that every one of our companies is working hard to do just that,” the American Petroleum Institute said Wednesday, combating fears that a possible outbreak of Middle East hostilities emanating from the attacks Tuesday on New York and Washington could slow the flow of oil to the U.S.

Republican House energy leaders have urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to expand its California market mitigation plan to 24 hours a day across the West this summer.

House Republican energy leaders have deep-sixed their proposed legislation to provide emergency relief to California and other western energy markets, insisting that Democrats and Republicans are too far apart on the issue of whether price limits on wholesale power should be included.

House Republican energy leaders have deep-sixed their proposed legislation to provide emergency relief to California and other western energy markets, insisting that Democrats and Republicans are too far apart on the issue of whether price limits on wholesale power should be included.

President George W. Bush, addressing business leaders and Gov. Gray Davis in Los Angeles Tuesday, delivered a public and unmistakable ‘no’ to price caps as a way out of the western energy crisis, and called for an end to finger-pointing. “Blame shifting is not action,” Bush said. “It is distraction.”

Energy officials yesterday urged Congress to clear away the regulatory, legislative, tax and rate-related hurdles that are holding up construction of much-needed new power transmission and natural gas transportation facilities to serve the nation’s expanding energy appetite.