Personality

Oscar S. Wyatt Jr., almost as well known for his legendary oil and natural gas prowess as his cantankerous personality, faces up to 24 months in prison after he pleaded guilty last week in a New York City courtroom to paying illegal kickbacks to Saddam Hussein’s regime in exchange for oil contracts in 2001.

California’s often-fragmented five-member regulatory commission Thursday approved an extension of Southern California Gas Co.’s six-year-old gas-purchase incentive program, including slashing by more than two-thirds the amount of incentives due to shareholders through the programs recent successes in lower overall supply costs. However, it made the unanimous (5-0) vote only after a split 3-2 vote defeated a preferred option by the panel’s chief regulator.