Suffered

Key energy stocks suffered a rout again on Wall Street in the opening days of July, with Williams descending briefly below $5, Dynegy Inc. bouncing around under $7 a share, and analysts predicting that more of the same was ahead. One analyst said she feared the credit rating agencies’ constant downgrading of the creditworthiness of energy traders, which has pushed stocks to record depths, could end up shattering the companies completely.

Just when it was expecting to see the light at the end of a long tunnel, Millennium Pipeline suffered another setback last week. Although it was able to come to an agreement with the city of Mount Vernon, NY, over a key routing issue, setting the stage for a final green light from FERC after five years of review, pipeline officials ran into trouble pushing the New York State Department’s (DOS) Division of Coastal Resources for a final decision on its route through sensitive Haverstraw Bay on the Hudson River.

Aquila said it is targeting its energy risk management expertise at the ailing fertilizer industry, which has suffered tremendously over the past two years from volatile natural gas prices. Natural gas can account for up to 80% of a fertilizer product’s costs.

Adding to losses suffered following the release of fresh storage data Wednesday, natural gas futures continued lower Thursday as traders managed to look past the Enron debacle to focus on the wealth of fundamental and technical factors — all of which point to lower prices. Following in the footsteps of the December contract, January shuffled lower in an organized manner Thursday to close with a 17.1-cent loss at $2.561.

EOG Resources suffered a 39% drop in third quarter net income to $69.2 million, or $0.59/share, mainly because of a decline in gas, oil and condensate prices. The company started curtailing gas and condensate production in September and has reduced its operating drilling rig fleet to 35 rigs from 50, according to CEO Mark Papa, who expects commodity prices to remain “sluggish” for about six more months.

EOG Resources suffered a 39% drop in third quarter net income to $69.2 million, or $0.59/share, mainly because of a decline in gas, oil and condensate prices. The company started curtailing gas and condensate production in September and has reduced its operating drilling rig fleet to 35 rigs from 50, according to CEO Mark Papa, who expects commodity prices to remain “sluggish” for about six more months.

TradeSpark, one of the Cantor Fitzgerald family of companies which suffered devastating losses in the collapse of the World Trade Center, expects to be open for business “when financial and commodity markets re-open on Monday,” the company said in an announcement Friday.

TradeSpark, one of the Cantor Fitzgerald family of companies which suffered devastating losses in the collapse of the World Trade Center, expects to be open for business “when financial and commodity markets re-open on Monday,” the company said in an announcement Friday.

Producers suffered a major setback when the Bush administration, in a concession to Florida, announced last week that it will radically scale back plans to allow exploration and production activity in the oil- and natural gas-rich eastern Gulf of Mexico.