Probe

UBS Warburg, a subsidiary of Switzerland-based UBS AG, beat out Citigroup as high bidder for Enron Corp.’s once mighty wholesale energy trading unit, according to an announcement Friday by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of New York, which also ruled against moving the case to Houston. No details of the bid were released. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez has scheduled a hearing at 2 p.m. EST on Thursday (Jan. 17) to consider final approval for the transaction.

In yet another chapter in the unfolding saga of Enron Corp., Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) has called on the Department of Transportation’s Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) to look into whether the company’s questionable practices extended to cutting corners on the safety and security of its pipeline operations.

El Paso Natural Gas and El Paso Energy Merchant Co. have called on FERC to provide “immediate guidance” on the “record status” of the Commission enforcement section’s bid for an expanded investigation into whether the two companies conspired to drive up gas prices in Southern California.

Punctuating Monday’s 32.6-cent price slide, natural gas futures probed lower Tuesday, as traders initiated the session by demoting the market to its second straight gap-lower open. Prices shuffled lower throughout the morning, augmented by a boost of selling pressure, as the December contract broke beneath the $2.835 low from Oct. 24. However support held and the prompt month retraced a portion of those losses in the afternoon to close with a 4.2-cent loss at $2.88.

Reps. John Dingell (D-MI) and Henry Waxman (D-CA) last week called on the General Accounting Office (GAO) to undertake an investigation into the White House energy task force in light of the shroud of secrecy surrounding its meetings and participants. They want to know whether the decision to close the task force meetings to the public is a violation of the sunshine laws and the “letter and the spirit” of the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

Sens. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and Jean Carnahan (D-MO) have called on the General Accounting Office (GAO) to investigate whether FERC is carrying out its duty to ensure “reasonable” rates for the sale of wholesale power and the transportation of natural gas in the ailing California energy market.

Reps. John Dingell (D-MI) and Henry Waxman (D-CA) last week called on the General Accounting Office (GAO) to undertake an investigation into the White House energy task force in light of the shroud of secrecy surrounding its meetings and participants. They want to know whether the decision to close the task force meetings to the public is a violation of the sunshine laws and the “letter and the spirit” of Federal Advisory Committee Act.

Sens. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and Jean Carnahan (D-MO) have called on the General Accounting Office (GAO) to investigate whether FERC is carrying out its duty to ensure “reasonable” rates for the sale of wholesale power and the transportation of natural gas in the ailing California energy market.

Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) yesterday called on FERC to conduct astudy into why there is such a huge differential between prices fornatural gas in the supply basin and prices for the gas delivered tothe Southern California border.