Pays

ExxonMobil Corp. continues to reign supreme as the world’s top energy enterprise and has regained its title as the largest domestic publicly traded entity.

Consol Energy Inc. announced Friday that it would begin shifting its Utica Shale program in Noble County, OH, from exploration to development mode, after seeing encouraging results and data from its test wells and those of its competitors in the play.

A decision by Encana Corp. to pull out of an investor conference this week ramped up rumors that the natural gas giant may be close to a joint venture agreement with China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) to develop its vast British Columbia (BC) shale holdings.

It might be that persistence pays even when one’s rival is Warren Buffett’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. News reports Tuesday said a deal for Electricite de France SA (EDF) to acquire half of the nuclear power business of troubled Constellation Energy Group Inc. is close at hand, potentially scotching MidAmerican’s signed agreement to take over the company.

Proving that it pays to follow instructions, TransCanada Corp. has been chosen by Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her administration to build a pipeline from the North Slope to Alberta to commercialize the state’s vast natural gas reserves. The pipeline company’s proposal, called TC Alaska, will be presented to state lawmakers, who will have 60 days to decide whether to move forward with the project.

Proving that it pays to follow instructions, TransCanada Corp. has been chosen by Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her administration to build a pipeline from the North Slope to Alberta to commercialize the state’s vast natural gas reserves. The pipeline company’s proposal, called TC Alaska, will be presented to state lawmakers, who will have 60 days to decide whether to move forward with the project.

It pays to be a consumer — and even more to be the government — in Canada’s chief natural-gas producing jurisdiction.

Whether Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay does any jail time or pays any fines for allegedly violating banking rules now rests in the hands of U.S. District Judge Sim Lake. The case against Lay, who was charged with four counts of personal bank fraud, was completed on Tuesday.

While pleading limited resources and the need to determine who pays for helping needy customers this winter in the face of rapidly escalating natural gas prices, a Sempra Energy senior utility executive told state regulators that the company’s Southern California Gas utility is considering tapping up to 5 Bcf of its cushion gas supplies in its extensive underground storage system as a means of tempering expected high winter gas utility bills for qualifying low-income customers.