Shaping

In what is shaping up to be some of the most riveting testimony to date in the trial of Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay and ex-CEO Jeffrey Skilling, federal prosecutor John Hueston began a tense cross-examination of Lay on Wednesday, accusing the former chief of attempting to influence witnesses and breaching Enron’s code of ethics.

El Paso’s Continental Connector project is shaping up a little bit differently than originally anticipated with strong demand for capacity from producers in the Barnett Shale of North Texas and in other Midcontinent basins, said Gary Charette, vice president of El Paso’s Pipelines Group.

The gas market this year is shaping up to be a lot like the market last year and observers should expect a pretty big dip in prices this summer, according to Steve Thumb of consulting firm Energy Ventures Analysis Inc. (EVA) in Arlington, VA. Thumb said rising domestic supply will be the biggest difference in the market this year.

The gas market this year is shaping up to be a lot like the market last year and observers should expect a pretty big dip in prices this summer, according to Steve Thumb of consulting firm Energy Ventures Analysis Inc. (EVA) in Arlington, VA. Thumb said rising domestic supply will be the biggest difference in the market this year.

This year is shaping up as another “active” year for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the oil and natural gas industry, according to a new report by Standard & Poor’s (S&P). Many large independent and integrated producers face stagnant reserve replacement or falling reserves, and M&A has been a “safer path to bolstering the reserve base and production profile than the drillbit.”

This year is shaping up as another “active” year for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the oil and natural gas industry, according to a new report by Standard & Poor’s (S&P). Many large independent and integrated producers face stagnant reserve replacement or falling reserves, and M&A has been a “safer path to bolstering the reserve base and production profile than the drillbit.”

As yet another storm in what is shaping up to be one of thesnowiest winters on record pummeled New England Friday, natural gasfutures spiraled higher only to reverse lower at mid-day as tradersstared ahead at bearish intermediate-term temperature and storageoutlooks. The May contract tumbled lower under the considerableselling pressure to close at $5.025, leaving the prompt month witha 24.9-cent loss to conclude the week. Considering the size of theprice move, volume was relatively weak as less than 60,000contracts changed hands.

Bending another tool in its arsenal to shaping up the electricpower market, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) hasapproved an 11.6% rate of return for Southern California Edison,replacing the 9.68% rate set earlier by an administrative law judge(ER97-2335, et al).

Bending another tool in its arsenal to shaping up the electricpower market, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) hasapproved an 11.6% rate of return for Southern California Edison,replacing the 9.68% rate set earlier by an administrative law judge(ER97-2335, et al).