Standing

Following up on its long-standing protest of a FERC trial unit’s settlement with Spokane, WA-based Avista Corp. over alleged trading violations, the California Attorney General’s Office came out swinging late Wednesday in response to the federal regulators ratifying the deal and concluding that the holding company’s utility and trading units had not manipulated wholesale energy markets during the western crisis of 2000-2001.

TransCanada PipeLines Ltd., disappointed but refusing to be discouraged after decades of trying, declared itself still ready to collaborate with any credible new contender to build the American half of the Alaska natural gas megaproject after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway withdrew its $6.4-billion entry (see Daily GPI, March 26).

Standing out as a bright spot of corporate morality, the team formed at KeySpan Corp. of CEO Robert Catell and Corporate Ombudsman Kenny Moore show how a company can be successful by operating the right way. The story of the unlikely duo, which pairs a large company CEO with a former monk, is told in a new book: “The CEO & The Monk, One Company’s Journey to Profit and Purpose.”

Immediately after getting over one hurdle, Exelon Corp. now finds itself standing in front of another in its quest to purchase Dynegy’s Illinois Power (IP) unit. First announced in late September (see NGI, Sept. 29), the $2.225 billion deal has been under constant fire from the Illinois government as well as consumer groups.

Burlington Resources Inc. easily surpassed Wall Street’s expectations Wednesday, reporting a 238% increase in net income in the third quarter on higher commodity prices and a 3% overall boost in natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs) and crude oil production. Progress in the company’s cost containment efforts also helped the bottom line.

While a breakthrough in aboriginal relations is about to dismantle a long-standing political obstacle against natural gas production and pipeline development in the Northwest Territories, the Canadian government and the industry stand warned that the problem of accessing native territory and rights could escalate.

While a breakthrough in aboriginal relations is about to dismantle a long-standing political obstacle to natural gas production and pipeline development in the Northwest Territories, the Canadian government and the industry stand warned that the problem of accessing native territory and rights could escalate.

Devon Energy Corp. CEO J. Larry Nichols said Tuesday that it would have been “difficult, if not impossible” to get the type of acreage in Canada that Anderson Exploration Ltd. already held, and that was the main reason the Oklahoma City-based producer tried for months to acquire the company. Now that Anderson has agreed to be acquired for $4.6 billion, Devon is expected to become the leading North American independent, a post currently held by Anadarko Petroleum Corp.

As natural gas storage levels recently erased the long-standing deficit when compared to last year’s levels, turning it into a surplus for the first time since January 2000, analysts are being forced to take another look at their natural gas price forecasts for the remainder of 2001 and for 2002.