Possible

Within days of its decision earlier this month to drop a preliminary proposal for a coastal liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal in northern California, a Calpine Corp. official indicated the company continues to talk with all of the major LNG proponents in North America.

Moody’s Investors Service placed Gas Transmission Northwest Corp.’s (GTN) B2 senior unsecured ratings under review for possible upgrade after the company on Wednesday announced its proposed sale to TransCanada Corp. for $1.5 billion, including assumption of $500 million in debt. TransCanada PipeLines Ltd., which has agreed to acquire GTN from bankrupt National Energy & Gas Transmission Inc., holds an A2 senior unsecured rating. GTN is not in bankruptcy, but the sale will have to be approved by the bankruptcy court and by federal regulators. “NEGT’s bankruptcy proceedings — the court-sanctioned auction process and the approval of the NEGT plan of reorganization — lend uncertainties, including whether another bidder will prevail in the auction, what the final sale price will be, and if and when the requisite approvals will be granted,” Moody’s noted. “The conclusion of the review will depend on the timing of these processes, which are expected to extend into this summer at the earliest.”

A plea bargain that would have sentenced former Enron Corp. Assistant Treasurer Lea Fastow, 42, to federal prison for five months was rejected by a federal judge in Houston Wednesday, but modifications could revive the deal, according to court sources. Meanwhile, a plea bargain agreement that would send her husband, former Enron CFO Andrew Fastow, 42, to federal prison for 10 years, apparently was being negotiated late Wednesday.

Former Enron Corp. Chairman Kenneth Lay on Friday agreed to hand over, within three days, more than 870 pages of what he terms “personal” correspondence to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), just moments before the commission was set to argue the case in a Washington, DC federal courtroom.

Pressured by the combination of mild weather forecasts and bearish storage news expected Thursday, the natural gas futures market continued its downward spiral Tuesday by recording another gap-lower open and a new five-week low.

After stair-stepping higher Thursday morning, the natural gas futures market shuffled back to unchanged for the session as traders were forced to choke down yet another bearish storage report (84 Bcf injection). Although it succeeded in notching a higher high and a higher low for the third straight session, the November contract failed to post a gain for the day. It finished at $4.913, down 1.1 cents.

With Mexico’s President Vicente Fox weakened politically following the recent national election, opposition lawmakers said last week they would contest a program to tender natural gas production contracts to outside investment. In July, Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) unveiled its first package of multiple service contract (MSC) bids on seven blocks of the Burgos Basin (see NGI, July 21).

With Mexico’s President Vicente Fox weakened politically following the recent national election, opposition lawmakers said Thursday they would contest a program to tender natural gas production contracts to outside investment. In July, Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) unveiled its first package of multiple service contract (MSC) bids on seven blocks of the Burgos Basin (see Daily GPI, July 18).

As Marathon Oil announced plans for locking up Indonesian supplies for its proposed North Baja liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal in Mexico last week, Sempra Energy was still waiting for word from Mexican federal government energy officials on its own proposal for a LNG terminal a few miles south of the proposed Marathon site.