Settled

The gas market, particularly in the Northeast, got a little scare last week when striking tugboat workers shut down liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments from Trinidad, the largest LNG exporter to the United States, for two days.

The gas market, particularly in the Northeast, got a little scare last week when striking tugboat workers shut down liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments from Trinidad, the largest LNG exporter to the United States, for two days.

With its exploration and production segment and cogeneration assets reported as discontinued operations, NiSource on Wednesday reported that net income for the second quarter of 2003 resulted in a net loss of $324.9 million, or $1.24 per share, versus net income of $25 million, or 12 cents per share, for the comparable 2002 period.

The New York Mercantile Exchange Inc. (Nymex) said it will delay by about a month the launch of its financially settled PJM weekly and daily electricity futures contracts to the afternoon of June 26, which starts the trade date of June 27. The delay will allow more time for electronic vendors, brokers and customers to complete the technical preparations needed to handle the new contracts, Nymex said.

A committee at the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) is mulling draft rules for a new set of financially settled electricity contracts that will be linked to PJM Interconnection’s locational marginal prices (LMP).

Enron Corp. and Dynegy Inc. announced late Thursday that they have settled a $10 billion lawsuit Enron filed against Dynegy for backing out of a merger agreement and claiming Northern Natural Co.’s pipeline system in the process. Enron filed the lawsuit Dec. 2, 2001 in conjunction with its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. The settlement agreement has been approved by the boards of both companies.

Enron Corp. and Dynegy Inc. announced last Thursday that they settled a $10 billion lawsuit Enron filed against Dynegy for backing out of a merger agreement and claiming Northern Natural Co.’s pipeline system in the process. Enron filed the lawsuit Dec. 2, 2001 in conjunction with its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. The settlement agreement has been approved by the boards of both companies.

Exxon Mobil has settled a $20 million class action lawsuit with about 1,600 royalty owners in West Texas who alleged the company did not pay them proper royalties from natural gas produced over two decades. An Exxon spokesman said the company decided to settle the case instead of having a lengthy trial.

Although the end of the story is far from written, Dynegy Inc. has settled a lawsuit with subsidiaries of Enron Corp. for Dynegy to exercise its option to acquire the Northern Natural Gas (NNG) pipeline. Dynegy and Enron have agreed to a closing on the pipe by the end of this month. Dynegy, in return, has agreed to extend Enron’s option to repurchase the pipeline from May 9, 2002, to June 30, 2002.