Success

Following the success of its popular initial public offering in November, it appears that Nymex Holdings, which operates the 135-year-old New York Mercantile Exchange, is going after a second bite of the apple. On Friday the company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission an automatic shelf registration statement for a potential secondary offering of shares of common stock.

Following the success of its popular initial public offering in November, it appears that Nymex Holdings, which operates the 135-year-old New York Mercantile Exchange, is going after a second bite of the apple. On Friday the company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission an automatic shelf registration statement for a potential secondary offering of shares of common stock.

A natural gas partnership spun off by utilities giant Constellation Energy Group Inc. (CEG) on Wednesday earned modest success, raising $94.5 million on 4.5 million common units. Constellation Energy Partners LLC, formed as a subsidiary by CEG in February 2005, was forecast to earn between $19 and $21 per unit, and it was trading in the high end of the forecast at midday.

Driven by strong results from its bread-and-butter natural gas pipelines and a 99% success rate in exploratory drilling, El Paso Corp. last week delivered 18 cents/share quarterly profit, two cents ahead of Wall Street expectations, and well ahead of the 50 cents/share loss a year earlier. Net income climbed to $126 million, versus a loss of $321 million in 3Q2005, and operating revenue rose 41% to $1.06 billion from $752 million.

Reflected again in the latest financial results, Sempra Energy has a growing “problem” of success in the energy commodity trading business that a lot of other firms would like to emulate, and its senior executives told financial analysts Friday they are constantly evaluating what to do with the business longer term, including taking on a partner that would expand it on a worldwide basis.

Driven by strong results from its bread-and-butter natural gas pipelines and a 99% success rate in exploratory drilling, El Paso Corp. delivered 18 cents/share quarterly profit on Monday, two cents ahead of Wall Street expectations, and well ahead of the 50 cents/share loss a year earlier. Net income climbed to $126 million, versus a loss of $321 million in 3Q2005, and operating revenue rose 41% to $1.06 billion from $752 million.

Andrew Fastow, who as CFO guided Enron Corp.’s finances to the heights of success and then to its spectacular fall, was sentenced Tuesday to six years in prison and two years of community service. Fastow, 44, had faced a maximum 10 years in prison under a plea agreement he made with prosecutors two-and-a-half years ago (see NGI, Jan. 19, 2004).

Andrew Fastow, who as CFO guided Enron Corp.’s finances to the heights of success and then to its spectacular fall, was sentenced Tuesday to six years in prison and two years of community service. Fastow, 44, had faced a maximum 10 years in prison under a plea agreement he made with prosecutors two-and-a-half years ago (see Daily GPI, Jan. 15, 2004).

With the potential of the Arkoma Basin’s Woodford Shale play just coming into focus, many in the industry are hoping for a repeat of the success seen in the Barnett Shale of North Texas. For its part, Newfield Exploration Co. thinks it’s time to start constructing pipeline to get gas to market.