Taps

The two nominees named to fill vacant seats at FERC are likely to remain stalled in the Senate until the Bush White House taps a successor for outgoing Commissioner Nora Brownell, according to Capitol Hill sources.

The U.S. Minerals Management Service announced Tuesday it had awarded ExxonMobil the SOAR award for excellence in offshore operational safety and environmental compliance; excellence in mineral revenues payment, reporting and compliance; and for superior partnership efforts with the federal government.

Longtime energy executive Rebecca A. McDonald has resigned from her spot on Noble Energy’s board of directors in order to accept a position as president of gas and power for Australian-based BHP Billiton, a large diversified resources company that includes petroleum exploration and production operations. The company was the second highest bidder in the Minerals Management Service’s Central Gulf Lease Sale 190 last Wednesday (see related story).

Longtime energy executive Rebecca A. McDonald has resigned from her spot on Noble Energy’s board of directors in order to accept a position as president of gas and power for Australian-based BHP Billiton, a large diversified resources company that includes petroleum exploration and production operations. The company was the second highest bidder in the Minerals Management Service’s Central Gulf Lease Sale 190 on Wednesday (see related story).

The board of directors of NUI Corp. has brought in former KeySpan executive Craig G. Matthews as NUI’s new president and CEO to lead the sale of the company. NUI stunned the financial community last September by announcing that it would sell its entire integrated natural gas business because of credit downgrades and “adverse business conditions.”

As it prepares to open its enterprise to outside contractors, Mexico’s Petroleos Mexicanos Exploration & Production (Pemex E&P) has signed a $60 million, two-year contract with Schlumberger Ltd. to manage its upstream asset information.

Seeking out an investor to finance its coalbed methane (CBM) exploration in Wyoming, Galaxy Energy Corp. said last week that it has entered into a funding agreement with Horizon Exploitation Inc., a U.S. affiliate of the German-based Horizon Exploitation Fund GmbH & Co. KG, managed by Rhein Investors AG. in Basil, Switzerland.

Seeking out an investor to finance its coalbed methane (CBM) exploration in Wyoming, Galaxy Energy Corp. said Wednesday that it has entered into a funding agreement with Horizon Exploitation Inc., a U.S. affiliate of the German-based Horizon Exploitation Fund GmbH & Co. KG, managed by Rhein Investors AG. in Basil, Switzerland.

Southern Union Co. reported last week that its subsidiary, Energy Worx, Inc., has entered into a multi-year agreement with Southern Star Central Corp., a private equity fund sponsored by American International Group, Inc. (“AIG”), to manage and operate its recently acquired Central Pipeline.