Undermine

Responding to rival exchange CME Group’s most recent letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) contends that CME has “undermine[d] their argument” that the agency’s proposed expansion of conditional spot month limits for all major physical commodities would heighten the threat of price manipulation.

In an effort to undermine Hess Corp.’s long-standing plan for the Weaver’s Cove liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Fall River, MA, Rhode Island-based Save The Bay is hoping to persuade the diversified energy giant’s investors from backing the project through an open letter. Weaver’s Cove Energy, a joint venture of Hess Corp. and Poten & Partners, said the letter is “factually incorrect” and is typical of the environmental group’s campaign to attack the project through the press.

In an effort to undermine Hess Corp.’s long-standing plan for the Weaver’s Cove liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Fall River, MA, Rhode Island-based Save The Bay is hoping to persuade the diversified energy giant’s investors from backing the project through an open letter. Weaver’s Cove Energy, a joint venture of Hess Corp. and Poten & Partners, said the letter is “factually incorrect” and is typical of the environmental group’s campaign to attack the project through the press.

While a TransCanada Corp. executive was assuring Alaska legislators that the current price of natural gas was not going to undermine the multi-billion-dollar Alaska gas pipeline project, producers BP Energy and ConocoPhillips warned a meeting of Alaska industrials that a host of factors, including lower natural gas prices, could affect pipeline prospects.

While a TransCanada Corp. executive was assuring Alaska legislators that the current price of natural gas was not going to undermine the multi-billion-dollar Alaska gas pipeline project, producers BP Energy and ConocoPhillips warned a meeting of Alaska industrials that a host of factors, including lower natural gas prices, could affect pipeline prospects.

Fewer natural gas reserves are being added in North America for every dollar of exploration and production (E&P) activity, and higher costs undermine the economics of an increasing number of wells, according to an analysis of full-cycle cost data for all wells drilled in 2005. Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) and IHS also found a dramatic shift toward unconventional gas production, which two years ago already accounted for nearly 25% of total output.

Fewer natural gas reserves are being added in North America for every dollar of exploration and production (E&P) activity, and higher costs undermine the economics of an increasing number of wells, according to an analysis of full-cycle cost data for all wells drilled in 2005. Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) and IHS also found a dramatic shift toward unconventional gas production, which two years ago already accounted for nearly 25% of total output.

A defense lawyer for former Enron Corp. CEO Jeffrey Skilling continued his punishing cross examination of ex-CFO Andrew Fastow on Thursday, trying to undermine earlier testimony and discredit a handwritten three-page memorandum, which Fastow claims secretly documents shady deals between him and his former boss.

Dominion Transmission Inc.’s (DTI) proposed tariff filing would “undermine” FERC’s right-of-first-refusal (ROFR) policy by allowing the pipeline to extend expiring shipper service agreements without first giving competitors a chance to bid on the capacity under those agreements, said Shell NA LNG LLC and other shippers on the pipeline.