Restructuring

Mexico’s state-owned oil and natural gas monopoly plans to cut 3,000-5,000 jobs as it restructures this year, according to Energy Minister Felipe Calderon. The job cuts follow news from Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) earlier this month that it lost $89 million in the first quarter.

Mexico’s state-owned oil and natural gas monopoly plans to cut 3,000-5,000 jobs as it restructures this year, according to Energy Minister Felipe Calderon. The job cuts follow news from Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) earlier this month that it lost $89 million in the first quarter.

Following a near-fatal collapse two years ago, Dynegy Inc. has been shedding assets and restructuring, and the lost business was evident in the company’s first quarter report last week. Its smaller power generation business was off 35% from a year ago, and the discontinued energy risk management unit also reported huge losses.

Despite its effort to move past the restructuring period it started more than a year ago, Dynegy Inc. lost ground in the first quarter, with its power generation business down 35% and a huge loss in its energy risk management unit. The Houston-based company reported net income of $74 million (15 cents/share), down from $147 million (17 cents) in 1Q2003, and revenue fell to $1.66 billion from $1.88 billion.

Although it “anticipates” a successful renewal and restructuring of maturing credit facilities, Fitch Ratings has lowered the debt ratings on Dynegy Inc. and Dynegy Holdings Inc. to “CCC+” from “B” and also has lowered the long-term ratings of affiliates Illinois Power and Illinova Corp. All of the ratings for the corporation and its affiliates remain on Rating Watch Negative.

Although it “anticipates” a successful renewal and restructuring of maturing credit facilities, Fitch Ratings has lowered the debt ratings on Dynegy Inc. and Dynegy Holdings Inc. to “CCC+” from “B” and also has lowered the long-term ratings of affiliates Illinois Power and Illinova Corp. All of the ratings for the corporation and its affiliates remain on Rating Watch Negative.

Duke Energy continued its organizational restructuring Tuesday, focusing on its pipeline and storage group, Duke Energy Gas Transmission (DEGT) and splitting it continent-wide into eastern and western divisions.

In a reprise of action two months ago, PG&E Corp.’s financially struggling National Energy Group (NEG) announced late last Thursday that it agreed with lenders to provide funding for two of the merchant energy developer’s new electric generating plants — the 840 MW natural gas/fuel oil-fired Lake Road plant in Connecticut and 1,121 MW gas-fired, combined cycle La Paloma unit in California.

End-of-the-year assessments of California’s roller-coaster ride along energy restructuring point to a lack of consensus among the state’s leaders and industry stakeholders about what the state’s future framework for electricity in particular should look like. A report over the holiday week in the Los Angeles Times reported a split between the state’s top regulator and state legislator over who should take the next steps in shaping the state’s energy markets.