Plea

A federal appeals court in Washington, DC, Friday granted the plea of a former natural gas trader for failed hedge fund Amaranth Advisors LLC to overturn an agency order imposing a $30 million penalty for allegedly manipulating natural gas futures.

A federal appeals court in Washington, DC, Friday granted the plea of a former natural gas trader for failed hedge fund Amaranth Advisors LLC to overturn an FERC order imposing a $30 million penalty for allegedly manipulating natural gas futures.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) has made an impassioned plea to California state regulators that it is “on the right path” to improve pipeline safety and that its four-year upgrade and safety-strengthening plan should be supported for the most part by gas utility ratepayers.

Firing back at a skeptical regulatory staff’s earlier allegations, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) on Friday made an impassioned plea to California state regulators that it is “on the right path” to improve pipeline safety and its four-year upgrade and safety-strengthening plan should be supported for the most part by gas utility ratepayers.

A federal court in Washington, DC, has denied Weaver’s Cove Energy LLC’s plea to compel the U.S. Coast Guard to prepare and issue a preliminary investigation report, recommendation and decision on whether the old Brightman Street Bridge unreasonably obstructs navigation. The 100-year-old drawbridge, which connects Fall River to Somerset, MA, would prevent large tankers from transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the proposed Weaver’s Cove terminal site in Fall River.

A federal court judge in New York last Thursday denied a plea by failed hedge fund Amaranth Advisors LLC to bar FERC from proceeding with an enforcement action against it until a parallel complaint brought by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is resolved, although he said he believed it would be “prudent” for FERC to defer to the CFTC case. The court left the critical issue of whether FERC has jurisdiction in futures markets unsettled.

A federal court judge in New York Thursday denied a plea by failed hedge fund Amaranth Advisors LLC to bar FERC from proceeding with an enforcement action against it until a parallel complaint brought by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is resolved, although he said he believed it would be “prudent” for FERC to defer to the CFTC case. The decision left the critical issue of whether FERC has jurisdiction in futures markets unsettled.

Alaska House Speaker John Harris rejected Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski’s plea that lawmakers return for a third special session, which apparently puts the Alaska natural gas pipeline project on hold until after a new governor is elected in November.

FERC on Wednesday approved Egan Hub Storage’s request to boost the compression of an already approved expansion of its natural gas storage facility in Acadia Parish, LA, as well as its plea for another delay in the in-service date.