Papers

BP plc claimed in court papers on Monday that Halliburton Co. “intentionally destroyed evidence” in the weeks after the Macondo well blowout in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM).

FERC put an end to one of the most tortuous cases in its history last Thursday, approving with one modification a $1.7 billion settlement of California’s allegations that an El Paso Corp. pipeline drove up natural gas prices in the state by withholding capacity during the state’s energy crisis, and that it gave preferential treatment to its power merchant affiliate during bidding on transportation capacity.

Documents furnished by PG&E Gas Transmission-Northwest Corp. (PG&E-GTN) to FERC fail to “conclusively establish” that the pipeline can demand one year of reservation charges as collateral from non-creditworthy shippers to guarantee continued transportation service, according to Denver, CO-based e prime Inc., a subsidiary of Xcel Energy.

Documents furnished by PG&E Gas Transmission-Northwest Corp. (PG&E-GTN) to FERC fail to “conclusively establish” that the pipeline can demand one year of reservation charges as collateral from non-creditworthy shippers to guarantee continued transportation service, according to Denver, CO-based e prime Inc., a subsidiary of Xcel Energy.

Justice Department attorneys were dealt another blow on Friday when a federal judge ordered the Bush administration to turn over to two Washington, DC-based public interest groups more documents and records related to Vice President Dick Cheney’s energy task force, which developed the national energy policy last year.

The name of prospective FERC nominee, Joseph T Kelliher, surfaced several times in the energy task force documents that the Department of Energy (DOE) was forced to release last week under court order, which could further spoil his chances of being appointed to the Commission.