Roles

BP plc and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. are liable for civil penalties under the Clean Water Act (CWA) for their roles in the Macondo well blowout in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, a federal judge ruled last week. However, Anadarko won a ruling excluding evidence about its knowledge of the Macondo operations.

BP plc and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. are liable for civil penalties under the Clean Water Act for their roles in the Macondo well blowout in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

Natural gas and renewables were given continuing starring roles in California’s energy future in a final 2011 Integrated Energy Policy Report (IEPR) approved Wednesday by the California Energy Commission (CEC), along with a series of clean transportation and research and development projects. The votes were 3-0 as the five-member CEC is still awaiting two governor-appointed commissioners.

Reversing their traditional adversarial roles, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and The Utility Reform Network (TURN) utility watchdog group announced Thursday they are cooperating on a winter bill mitigation program in the face of skyrocketing wholesale natural gas prices in the aftermath of the recent violent hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico. The utility announced two major new initiatives it has developed in conjunction with TURN.

Two former Merrill Lynch & Co. executives were sentenced in Houston on Thursday to federal prison for their roles in helping Enron Corp. to disguise a $7 million loan as a sale of three Nigerian energy barges.

Two former Merrill Lynch & Co. executives were sentenced in Houston on Thursday to federal prison for their roles in helping Enron Corp. to disguise a $7 million loan as a sale of three Nigerian energy barges.

The ranking energy lawmakers in the Senate and House, Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), met for the first time Thursday in their roles as committee chairmen and vowed to work out their differences with the broad energy bill.

McMoRan Exploration Co. said Tuesday that it has separated the roles of chairman and CEO to strengthen its corporate governance structure. McMoRan named Glenn A. Kleinert president and CEO, noting that James R. Moffett and Richard C. Adkerson will continue to serve as co-chairmen of the board. McMoRan will be managed through an office of the chairman consisting of Messrs. Moffett, Adkerson and Kleinert. The company said that the office of the chairman will direct the business activities of McMoRan, with Moffett continuing to focus on exploration activities and business strategy including McMoRan’s efforts to develop an LNG facility at its Main Pass Energy Hub offshore Louisiana. Adkerson will focus on financial and administrative activities and financial strategy including the commercial and financing activities for the LNG facility and Kleinert will be responsible for executive management functions including acreage development and production activities. In other McMoRan mangement news, B. M. Rankin, Jr. will continue on as vice chairman of McMoRan’s board, while C. Howard Murrish, executive vice president, will continue in his role in McMoRan’s oil and gas exploration activities. The independent oil and gas E&P company operates offshore in the Gulf of Mexico and onshore in the Gulf Coast area.