Superior

A San Diego County state Superior Court judge has set for trial a class-action lawsuit alleging Sempra Energy and its two California utilities conspired with El Paso Natural Gas Corp. and others to raise wholesale natural gas prices at the California-Arizona border during the energy crisis of 2000-2001. The plaintiffs said that economists estimated there could be $9 billion in potential damages involved.

A San Diego County state Superior Court judge has set for trial a class-action lawsuit alleging Sempra Energy and its two California utilities conspired with El Paso Natural Gas Corp. and others to raise wholesale natural gas prices at the California-Arizona border during the energy crisis of 2000-2001. The plaintiffs said that economists estimated there could be $9 billion in potential damages involved.

Energy West Corp. subsidiary Energy West Propane Inc. completed the sale of its assets in Montana and Wyoming, including a terminal in Superior, MT, Jack’s Wholesale Propane Inc., an affiliate of Northern Petro NGL Marketing Inc., for $1.4 million, including $750,000 in cash and a promissory note for $620,000, payable over 46 months. Energy West will realize a pretax gain of $185,000 as a result of the transaction. With the completion of this transaction, Energy West has substantially exited the wholesale propane business in Montana and Wyoming.

Seeking to stay ahead of eventual settlement developments in a state Superior Court in San Diego and at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, California’s state regulatory commission Thursday established a statewide regulatory proceeding to outline how to return in excess of $1 billion to private-sector natural gas and electric utility customers. The funds are what El Paso Natural Gas Corp. agreed to pay in a settlement resulting from various court and regulatory actions aimed at its alleged manipulation of wholesale gas prices at the California-Arizona border in 2000-2001.

Seeking to stay ahead of eventual settlement developments in a state Superior Court in San Diego and at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, California’s state regulatory commission Thursday established a statewide regulatory proceeding to outline how to return in excess of $1 billion to private-sector natural gas and electric utility customers. The funds are what El Paso Natural Gas Corp. agreed to pay in a settlement resulting from various court and regulatory actions aimed at its alleged manipulation of wholesale gas prices at the California-Arizona border in 2000-2001.

A superior credit rating and financial acumen apparently have done little to help revive Enron Corp.’s collapsed energy trading operations. UBS Warburg Energy debuted early this year after taking over the trading business. However, the Houston-based unit has failed to produce, and 10 months later, the corporation’s president admits the “business outlook is very challenging.”

A superior credit rating and financial acumen apparently have done little to help revive Enron Corp.’s collapsed energy trading operations. UBS Warburg Energy debuted early this year after taking over the trading business. However, the Houston-based unit has failed to produce, and 10 months later, the corporation’s president admits the “business outlook is very challenging.”

Calgary-based Canadian Superior Energy Inc. kicked off a major gas drilling initiative designed to bring in supply from several newly established areas of northwestern and west-central Alberta and northeastern British Columbia. Company President Greg Noval said drilling will begin later this week on 25 wells in the Ladyfern, Chinchaga and Pine Creek areas of Alberta. Further drilling in Alberta will also take place in the Giroux Lake, Windfall, Boundary Lake and Bison Lake areas. In northeastern British Columbia, high-impact exploration is also planned for the Umbach, Altares and Parkland areas, where the company has acquired acreage over the last several months. “The new drilling program is targeting reserve based accumulations of Cretaceous, Jurassic and Devonian natural gas and it is geared toward providing the company with substantial new production volumes at attractive prices, given the recent significant drop in rig utilization and oil field service cost in Western Canada,” Noval said. The multi-well drilling program in Western Canada will complement the company’s strategy of developing large holdings offshore Nova Scotia.

California Attorney General Bill Lockyer last week filed complaints in a San Francisco state superior court against four merchant generators, alleging “flagrant violation of rules” related to electricity transmission and for “charging millions of dollars for emergency generating capacity that the companies never provided as promised.” The action was taken against Dynegy, Mirant, Reliant Energy, Williams and their affiliates, seeking more than $150 million in penalties and restitution.