Ninth

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Wednesday affirmed a lower court’s ruling to allow a lawsuit by E. & J. Gallo Winery of Modesto, CA, to continue against EnCana Corp. and “multiple unnamed co-conspirators” over colluding to increase the price of natural gas it sold to the winemaker in 2001.

In a split decision, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week rejected a request to expand an injunction that would have prevented coalbed methane (CBM) development on additional lands in the Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming.

In a split decision Tuesday, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a request to expand an injunction that would have prevented coalbed methane (CBM) development on additional lands in the Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming.

The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco last week rejected a petition by the California Power Exchange (Cal-PX) to stay three critical elements of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Dec. 15 order, which mapped out a series of reforms for chronic problems in the California wholesale power market.

The federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Aug. 20 that government motor vehicle fleets need to be powered by clean energy sources, such as natural gas and alternative fuels. The rules apply to fleets of 15 vehicles or more, the appellate court said.

A federal appeals court in San Francisco Wednesday blocked Shell Offshore Inc.’s plans to explore for oil and natural gas in the Beaufort Sea north of Alaska and Canada.

FERC Chairman Joseph Kelliher said Tuesday the federal regulatory panel agrees with the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco regarding its action last Friday to set a settlement conference on the California energy refund proceeding appeals cases. Consolidated appeals petitions will be included in the Sept. 6 conference, continuing the next day if necessary, the court said.

Calling it a “major victory,” California Attorney General Bill Lockyer Tuesday lauded a decision by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that revives the attorney general’s claim for restitution of up to $5 billion from PG&E Corp., the holding company for Pacific Gas and Electric Co., which emerged in April 2004 from three years of Chapter 11 bankruptcy court proceedings.

ChevronTexaco Corp., the second largest U.S.-based oil major, on Monday agreed to buy ninth-ranked Unocal Corp. in a cash-and-stock transaction worth about $16.4 billion. ChevronTexaco also agreed to assume $1.6 billion in debt.