Payments

There’s more than one way to rescue the U.S. balance of payments deficit and Oklahoma’s own Aubrey McClendon, CEO of Chesapeake Energy, may have hit on it with his idea to export increasingly abundant North American natural gas, shipping it over the oceans in liquid form.

There’s more than one way to rescue the U.S. balance of payments deficit and Oklahoma’s own Aubrey McClendon, CEO of Chesapeake Energy, may have hit on it with his idea to export increasingly abundant North American natural gas, shipping it over the oceans in liquid form.

Under an Oregon law designed to true up private-sector utility tax payments and retail rates annually, the state’s major investor-owned utilities have filed their 2006 tax reports with the Oregon Public Utility Commission (PUC). Regulators said last Wednesday they will launch a proceeding to review the filings.

Under an Oregon law designed to true up private-sector utility tax payments and retail rates annually, the state’s major investor-owned utilities have filed their 2006 tax reports with the Oregon Public Utility Commission (PUC). Regulators said Wednesday they will launch a proceeding to review the filings.

A special master in a long-running lawsuit brought by the Native Americans against the Interior Department resigned in disgust last Monday, citing repeated efforts by Interior to disqualify him from the case to prevent damaging evidence from surfacing about agency mismanagement of trust monies for oil and natural gas and other activities on Indian lands.

A special master in a long-running lawsuit brought by the Native Americans against the Interior Department resigned in disgust Monday, citing repeated efforts by Interior to disqualify him from the case to prevent from surfacing damaging evidence about agency mismanagement of trust monies for oil and natural gas and other activities on Indian lands.

NRG Energy and more than a dozen lenders will continue talks tied to NRG’s efforts to meet a $1.3 billion collateral payment and a related plan developed by the financially wounded unit of Xcel Energy to raise much needed funds.

With almost $800 million in debt payments due and its cash nearly depleted, Williams put together a mega-deal that will not only pay the bills, but ensure its liquidity through several cash and credit transactions totaling about $3.4 billion. New credit agreements were secured giving Williams about $2 billion, but to make those deals, Williams sold or guaranteed some of its solid income-producing assets — interests in two pipeline companies, Seminole and Mid-American, for $1.2 billion; natural gas properties in Wyoming for $350 million; gas properties in the Anadarko Basin for $37.5 million; and the Cove Point liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility for $217 million. Williams also backed a secured credit agreement, which was put together by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., with “substantially all” of the assets of subsidiary Barrett Resources.

Kimball Resources Inc. announced that it will be hosting an online bidding event beginning June 11 and running through June 18, including Requests for Quotations (RFQ) from DaimlerChrysler Corp., General Electric Aircraft Engines, Detroit Diesel and Ford Motor Co., which will entail approximately 26 separate RFQs for approximately 45 Bcf of gas on an annualized basis throughout North America. The term requested is for one year beginning July 1.