Overwhelmingly

The House last week voted overwhelmingly to approve an amendment to an Interior Department spending bill that would block new oil and natural gas drilling on 36 disputed leases off the central coast of California.

The House late Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to approve an amendment to an Interior Department spending bill that would block new oil and natural gas drilling on 36 disputed leases off the central coast of California.

The House late Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to approve an amendment to an Interior Department spending bill that would block new oil and natural gas drilling on 36 disputed leases off the central coast of California.

In its first major stab at Enron-related reform, the House last week overwhelmingly approved legislation that would give the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) expanded authority over corporations, create a new public regulatory board to oversee accountants, and demand greater corporate disclosure.

The Senate overwhelmingly adopted an amendment to the Senate energy bill Wednesday that calls for a proposed North Slope natural gas pipeline to be built along the Alaska Highway, a route that had wide bipartisan support in the upper chamber.

Westcoast Energy Inc. announced Thursday that its securityholders, at a special meeting in Vancouver, overwhelmingly approved its acquisition by Duke Energy. Over 96% of the votes cast were in favor of Duke’s US$8.5 billion bid for the major Canadian pipeline company. The purchase price includes assumption of about $4 billion in debt.

The Senate last week overwhelmingly voted to retain a controversial oil and natural gas lease sale in the eastern Gulf of Mexico scheduled for December, pushing back attempts by the Florida delegation to delay it until next year, as part of a major energy spending bill. Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) last week tentatively scheduled the lease sale for Dec. 5 in New Orleans.

A Senate bipartisan coalition led by Louisiana lawmakers yesterday overwhelmingly defeated an amendment to postpone oil and natural gas leasing in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

Energy East Corp. announced on Friday that its shareholders “overwhelmingly approved” its proposed merger with RGS Energy Group. Energy East plans to buy the parent company of Rochester Gas & Electric for approximately $1.4 billion.