Office

The Inspector General of the Department of Transportation (DOT)has found severe shortcomings in the inspection practices andtraining of federal pipeline inspectors at DOT’s Office of PipelineSafety (OPS), according to a preliminary report. The unfavorableDOT report comes in the wake of a number of legislative measures onCapitol Hill seeking to reauthorize the Federal Pipeline SafetyAct.

The Washington State Attorney General’s Office said it will sueto stop BP Amoco and Arco from merging their companies. The Stateof Oregon also said it will join Washington and the Federal TradeCommission (FTC) in opposing the merger. California also isreviewing its litigation options.

California Gov. Gray Davis has joined the California CoastalCommission and the state attorney general’s office in a lawsuitagainst the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) to block extensionsDOI Secretary Bruce Babbitt granted last week on 36 undeveloped oiland gas leases offshore.

The U.S. District Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbiahas asked a D.C. federal judge to sentence Nicholas J. Bush, formerpresident of the Natural Gas Supply Association (NGSA), to a”significant period of incarceration” for embezzling about $3million from the producer group over a 16-year period.

The U.S. District Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia has asked a D.C. federal court judge to sentence Nicholas J. Bush, former president of the Natural Gas Supply Association {NGSA), to a “significant period of incarceration” for embezzling about $3 million from the producer group over a 16-year period.

Joseph W. Sutton has been promoted to vice chairman of Enron.Sutton will join Enron’s office of the chairman, which includesChairman and CEO Kenneth L. Lay and President and COO Jeffrey K.Skilling. Sutton, previously chairman and CEO of Enron’sinternational business unit, will help oversee the day-to-dayoperations of Enron’s business units.

A new General Accounting Office (GA0) report concluding that theelectric utilities are lagging behind on Y2K readiness came underfire in industry circles for being based on data that was sixmonths old. The GAO report, which was released last Friday,followed a Senate study of the issue that industry critics contendalso was founded on out-dated, faulty information.

Planning on growth of 20 to 30% to its Houston workforce by2001, Enron announced plans for a 40-story office tower on adowntown Houston city block adjacent to its existing 50-storytower. “In the past three years, we have experienced annualemployment growth of about 10%, and we expect this to continue intothe next century due to the strength of all our businesses,” saidCEO Kenneth L. Lay. “This new world-class building will allow us tobring in the latest technologies to support our businesses, and itwill assist us in recruiting and retaining the best and thebrightest employees.”

SCANA Corp. announced it is refocusing its marketing strategy onthe retail business in the Southeast and is shutting down itsHouston office and its wholesale gas marketing operation. Thecompany would not say how much natural gas its wholesale operationhandles on a daily basis.