Ninth

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday issued an emergency injunction that halts the development of coal-bed methane (CBM) in the Montana section of the Powder River Basin while an appeal of the case is being decided.

The states of Washington and Oregon last month filed friends-of-the-court (amicus) briefs in the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal supporting California’s contention that FERC does not, as it has asserted, have exclusive jurisdiction in the siting of liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities. They asked the court to reverse the federal regulatory panel’s finding.

The states of Washington and Oregon last month filed friends-of-the-court (amicus) briefs in the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal supporting California’s contention that FERC does not, as it has asserted, have exclusive jurisdiction in the siting of liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities. They asked the court to reverse the federal regulatory panel’s finding.

Jurors deliberating for the ninth day in Arthur Andersen LLP’s obstruction of justice trial were awaiting a ruling by the presiding Houston judge Friday afternoon that may offer crucial guidance in determining a decision of guilt or innocence. Judge Melinda Harmon was asked by the jurors to rule on whether they all must agree on which individual at Andersen acted corruptly when the firm destroyed Enron Corp. records last fall.

For the ninth consecutive week, the mobile offshore rig count declined in the Gulf of Mexico last week, as two more rigs were idled, according to Houston-based ODS-Petrodata Group. However, the total number of rotary rigs operating in the United States and offshore remained unchanged at 1,141, up from 1,045 for the same period a year ago, according to Baker Hughes Inc.

The Bush administration has petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to review a federal judge’s decision in June that blocked oil and natural gas exploration off the coast of California until the state’s Coastal Commission could assess the environmental impact of future drilling activity.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco took little time in rejecting an emergency request by the California legislature to force FERC to cap wholesale energy prices. The request was filed last Tuesday and tossed out by Friday. The panel ruled that the legislature did not demonstrate that the case warranted emergency action.

The Exploration Company (TXCO) is on a roll in Southwest Texaswith another high producer, its ninth consecutive successfulnatural gas well in the Prickly Pear (Glen Rose) Field west of SanAntonio, near the Mexican border.

For ninth time in the last 10 trading sessions, natural gasfutures were lower last Friday as sellers pressured theprompt-April contract to its life-of-contract low. No freshfundamental news was seen to lift the market, and as a result itfollowed the long-standing trend 3.1 cents lower to $1.628.