Taking back a little of what it gave away on Tuesday, February natural gas futures climbed higher on Wednesday as its petroleum counterparts slipped. The natural gas prompt month notched a high of $6.33 before settling at $6.293, up 15.6 cents on the session.
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Large Consumers Struggle to Adjust to $7-9/MMBtu Gas
The horror stories told by commercial and industrial companies this Halloween involved high natural gas prices rather than ghouls and goblins. Gas consumers are struggling to adapt to $7-9/MMBtu natural gas and to the dramatic changes that have taken place in the market over the last four years, according to energy service providers.
Transco, El Paso Settlements Top OMOI’s First-Year Success List
The two biggest success stories of FERC’s Office of Market Oversight and Investigations (OMOI) during its first year were a record $20 million civil penalty brought against Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Corp. for engaging in marketing affiliate abuse, and a $1.7 billion settlement to resolve charges that El Paso Corp. drove up natural gas prices in California during the state’s energy crisis, said OMOI Director William F. Hederman last Tuesday.
Feds Probe Whether Enron Bamboozled Investors on True Worth of Pipes, Plants
Another year, and still the revelatory stories about Enron Corp.’s apparent misdeeds continue. Federal investigators combing through the convoluted stack of special purpose entities (SPEs) now are examining whether the company misled investors not only about its energy trades, but also covered up the actual value of its “real” assets — natural gas pipelines and power plants.
FERC to Let Price-Cap Waiver in Secondary Market Expire Sept. 30
On a day of giving that included certificates for multiple pipeline expansions (see related stories), FERC also showed it can taketh away. The Commission said Wednesday it will let the price-cap waiver expire Sept. 30 in its pilot program on short-term capacity release transactions.
Washington Feeds on Steady Diet of Enron Disclosures
With Capitol Hill feeding reporters a steady diet of Enron Corp. stories last week, it fast became the issue du jour. Who’s kidding who, it was the only story in a town that thrives on scandals — real or imagined. In fact, there was such a rapid fire of “new” disclosures about the energy trader’s financial sleight of hand, outside auditor Arthur Andersen’s extracurricular activities, and the Bush administration’s ties and Capitol Hill lawmakers’ links to the bankrupt corporation, that somewhere along the way last week it became one big blur.
Washington Feeds on Steady Diet of Enron Disclosures
With Capitol Hill feeding reporters a steady diet of Enron Corp. stories last week, it fast became the issue du jour. Who’s kidding who, it was the only story in a town that thrives on scandals — real or imagined. In fact, there was such a rapid fire of “new” disclosures about the energy trader’s financial sleight of hand, outside auditor Arthur Andersen’s extracurricular activities, and the Bush administration’s ties and Capitol Hill lawmakers’ links to the bankrupt corporation, that somewhere along the way last week it became one big blur.
Williams Energy Rises, Communications Still Lag in 3Q
Joining the rather large list of third quarter 2000 earningssuccess stories, Williams reported net income that was more thanquadruple the figure for the same period last year. Its profitsrose to $121.1 million ($0.27 per share) from $28.1 million ($0.06per share).
Williams Energy Rises, Communications Still Lag
Joining the list of third quarter 2000 earnings success stories,Williams reported its third quarter net income more than quadrupledover last year’s figure for the same time period, from $28.1million ($0.06 per share) to $121.1 million ($0.27 per share). Thecompany attributed the growth to its fourth successive quarter ofyear-over-year earnings improvement within its energy businesses.
Enron Adding 40 Stories to Houston Landscape
Planning on growth of 20 to 30% to its Houston workforce by2001, Enron announced plans for a 40-story office tower on adowntown Houston city block adjacent to its existing 50-storytower. “In the past three years, we have experienced annualemployment growth of about 10%, and we expect this to continue intothe next century due to the strength of all our businesses,” saidCEO Kenneth L. Lay. “This new world-class building will allow us tobring in the latest technologies to support our businesses, and itwill assist us in recruiting and retaining the best and thebrightest employees.”