Leadership

Citing the continuing fallout from the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, the shake-up in the House leadership, the extreme partisan atmosphere on Capitol Hill and the mid-term elections later this year, natural gas industry and Capitol Hill officials believe it will be extremely challenging during the second session of the 109th Congress to get legislation passed that would expand access to onshore and offshore energy supplies.

The American Public Gas Association (APGA) praised the Bush administration in a letter to the president on Wednesday for providing leadership in pushing through a new roadless rule governing national forest access and management. APGA estimates the new rule will provide access to as much as 11-23 Tcf of natural gas resources that were previously off limits. However, a Department of Agriculture (USDA) official said it is premature to draw that conclusion.

Capgemini Energy LP, a joint venture formed by Capgemini America Inc. and TXU Corp., began operation on Thursday with a complete leadership structure drawn from both parent companies. TXU signed a $3.5 billion, 10-year agreement in May with Capgemini to form the new company. Under the agreement, about 2,700 employees will be transferred from TXU to Capgemini. TXU will own less than 3% of the company and will have the right to sell all of its interest when the contract ends. The company will provide information technology, call center, billing, human resources, supply chain and accounts payable, and finance and accounting services to TXU and other energy companies. Capgemini selected Bob Pryor, its former president of outsourcing services, as its CEO. Elizabeth Lavalley, who most recently served as TXU’s senior vice president of information technology, will be the company’s COO.

With hints of increasing earnings projections for the full year next month, San Diego-based Sempra Energy’s CEO Steve Baum told a Wall Street audience last Wednesday that Sempra has carved out a major role in both natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) marketing. Separately, on its electric side, Sempra is trying to start discussions for a global settlement with California officials regarding a long-term power supply contract with the state Department of Water Resources (DWR) and related litigation stemming from the state’s 2000-2001 energy crisis.

With hints of increasing earnings projections for the full year next month, San Diego-based Sempra Energy’s CEO Steve Baum told a Wall Street audience Wednesday that Sempra has carved out a major role in both natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) marketing. Separately, on its electric side, Sempra is trying to start discussions for a global settlement with California officials regarding a long-term power supply contract with the state Department of Water Resources (DWR) and related litigation stemming from the state’s 2000-2001 energy crisis.

Coming a little more than a week after the company headed off bankruptcy, Hagerstown, MD-based Allegheny Energy, Inc. announced that Alan J. Noia, chairman, president, and CEO, has informed the board of directors of his decision to retire. Noia has agreed to remain with the company until a successor is found. The company said it is in the process of enlisting a prominent executive search firm to head the search.

In a topsy-turvy trading session conspicuous only for its lack of bullish leadership, natural gas futures slipped lower Wednesday amid two waves of long liquidation. An early afternoon rally was about all the buyers could muster, and it was overshadowed by selling at the market’s open and again heading into its close. March finished at $5.785, down 19.2 cents for the session.

Former Seagull Energy Corp. Chairman and CEO Barry J. Galt has joined Dynegy’s board of directors. “Barry’s proven leadership and experience in the energy industry and his reputation for integrity further strengthens the board during these challenging times in our business sector,” according to Otis Winters, lead director and chairman of the Governance and Nominating Committee. Galt will be named to the board’s Audit Committee and Compensation Committee. Galt led was Seagull Energy (now Ocean Energy Inc.) from 1983 to 1998.and currently is a director of Ocean. Prior to joining Seagull, he was president and COO of The Williams Companies. A graduate of the University of Oklahoma Law School and the University of Oklahoma with a degree in accounting, Mr. Galt also serves on the boards of Friede Goldman Halter Inc., StanCorp Financial Group Inc. and Trinity Industries Inc. Dynegy’s board of directors now numbers 12, including two members representing ChevronTexaco, which will nominate a new director in the near future to replace Glenn Tilton, who resigned as interim chairman of Dynegy on Sept. 2 to become chairman of UAL Corp.

Senate Republicans pulled out all the stops last week to get the Democratic leadership to move on energy legislation before the end of the session, and even vowed to tack on an energy bill to other legislation such as the economic-stimulus measure pending in the upper chamber.