Steve

The Williams Cos. have a plethora of opportunities unfolding, with natural gas still the backbone of all that is to come, CEO Steve Malcolm told shareholders on Thursday.

Steve Harvey, head of Energy Market Oversight, part of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Office of Enforcement, will be moving across town in two weeks to take over as head of the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Office of Oil and Gas. Harvey was recruited for FERC by William F. Hederman when Hederman was tasked in 2002 with starting up the enforcement arm to investigate attempts to manipulate the natural gas and electricity markets. As a deputy director of the original Office of Market Oversight and Investigations, Harvey was involved in setting up an extensive market monitoring operation at FERC, collecting and charting a large amount of data on market activity. He has more than 20 years of experience in natural gas, including a stint with the Columbia Energy Group. Harvey said he was “really looking forward to” extending the reach of his activities at EIA, going beyond natural gas to the big ticket item, oil.

Steve Harvey, head of Energy Market Oversight, part of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Office of Enforcement, will be moving across town in two weeks to take over as head of the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Office of Oil and Gas. Harvey was recruited for FERC by William F. Hederman when Hederman was tasked in 2002 with starting up the enforcement arm to investigate attempts to manipulate the natural gas and electricity markets. As a deputy director of the original Office of Market Oversight and Investigations, Harvey was involved in setting up an extensive market monitoring operation at FERC, collecting and charting a large amount of data on market activity. He has more than 20 years of experience in natural gas, including a stint with the Columbia Energy Group. Harvey said he was “really looking forward to” extending the reach of his activities at EIA, going beyond natural gas to the big ticket item — oil.

With CEO Steve Baum officially retired on Wednesday, and a new three-person senior management team from within the company, Sempra Energy expects to stay its current course, including timely sales of assets, continued development of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and related facilities, along with holding on to its so-far successful trading operation, Sempra’s new CFO, Mark Snell, told a session at the Credit Suisse Energy Summit Tuesday in Vail, CO.

With CEO Steve Baum officially retired on Wednesday, and a new three-person senior management team from within the company, Sempra Energy expects to stay its current course, including timely sales of assets, continued development of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and related facilities, along with holding on to its so-far successful trading operation, Sempra’s new CFO, Mark Snell, told a session at the Credit Suisse Energy Summit Tuesday in Vail, CO.

Along with affirming its previously announced new senior management team with CEO Steve Baum’s retirement next month, San Diego-based Sempra Energy’s board of directors last Wednesday also proposed changes in its corporate governance by terminating its shareholders’ rights plan and proposing to make directors subject to an annual vote.

Outgoing Sempra Energy CEO Steve Baum said he expects to have the bulk of the energy crisis-spawned litigation facing the company resolved in settlements by the time he retires in January next year.

The current factors affecting the gas market have created a “hair trigger environment for gas prices,” according to Consultant Stephen Smith. And FERC’s Steve Harvey, deputy director of market oversight and assessment, seems to agree that most market indicators currently point to continued high prices through the winter and perhaps much longer.

Steve Poizner, a Silicon Valley telecommunications multi-millionaire entrepreneur, withdrew his name on Wednesday from consideration to fill one of the five seats on the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), citing too many conflicts with his rich and varied personal investment portfolio. Poizner, an unsuccessful candidate for an elected state legislative seat two years ago, said he plans to run next year for the state Insurance Commissioner’s post.