Street

As the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act rules continue to come into focus, trading exchanges are modifying the way they do business in order to better comply with current and anticipated rules and regulations. The latest move came from CME Group, which this week announced the launch of CME Direct, a new technology offering side-by-side trading of exchange-listed and over-the-counter (OTC) markets.

In confirming that Wall Street is embracing natural gas in the transportation fueling sector, an investment banker and major energy and automotive stakeholders agreed that for the most part natural gas vehicles (NGV) aren’t a “science project” anymore, the bulk of their research and development work has been completed, the experts said as part of a wide-ranging panel discussion Thursday at the ACT Expo 2012 conference in Long Beach, CA.

From blogs to Wall Street there was louder talk in recent weeks about natural gas in transportation, prompting signs that there is more market pull and a tipping point of sorts may be reached after several decades of ups and downs for the natural gas vehicle (NGV) sector.

Lifted by high commodity prices and refinery margins, Chevron Corp. topped Wall Street expectations in the third quarter, reporting Friday that profits nearly doubled from a year earlier to $7.8 billion ($3.92/share) from $3.8 billion ($1.87). A consensus forecast by analysts had expected earnings to average $3.48/share in the latest period.

Lifted by high commodity prices and refinery margins, Chevron Corp. topped Wall Street expectations in the third quarter, reporting that profits nearly doubled from a year earlier to $7.8 billion ($3.92/share) from $3.8 billion ($1.87). A consensus forecast by analysts had expected earnings to average $3.48/share in the latest period.

Natural gas industry stakeholders were encouraged to get up to speed and involved in the complicated and long implementation process now under way on the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act during a panel discussion at the LDC Gas Forum: Rockies & West meeting Tuesday in Los Angeles.

None of the legislation to amend Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act being considered by the House Agriculture Committee “proposes dramatic changes to Dodd-Frank,” according to committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK).

Tulsa-based oil and gas exploration and production company Samson Investment Co. could be in play, according to a Tuesday report by The Wall Street Journal, which cited unnamed sources who said the company is “considering strategic options.” A deal could be worth as much as $10 billion, the paper said.

In today’s uncertain economic and public policy environment, senior executives are leery of Wall Street’s ready appetite for mergers and acquisitions (M&A), according to a panel of three executives discussing growing rate base Tuesday at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Power and Gas Leaders Conference in New York City.