Urges

Denver-based Barrett Resources Corp. said Friday it will recommend that its shareholders reject Royal Dutch/Shell Group’s takeover bid, calling the $55 per share cash tender offer “inadequate and not in the (company’s) best interests.” Shell, eager to enter the gas-rich Rocky Mountains, launched its hostile bid earlier this month, after being rejected in informal discussions with Barrett executives (see NGI, March 12).

Denver-based Barrett Resources Corp. said Friday it willrecommend that its shareholders reject Royal Dutch/Shell Group’stakeover bid, calling the $55 per share cash tender offer”inadequate and not in the (company’s) best interests.” Shell,eager to enter the gas-rich Rocky Mountains, launched its hostilebid earlier this month, after being rejected in informaldiscussions with Barrett executives (see Daily GPI, March 8).

Mexican President Vicente Fox said last weekend that he willpush strongly to allow private investment in the country’sstate-run electricity commission because without it, the countrywill have to practically beg for help from the United States tomeet its energy needs. He insisted, however, that there are noplans to privatize the country’s state-run electricity commissionor its state-run oil company.

The Department of Interior’s Minerals Management Service (MMS)must carefully examine the option of including promising areas inits new 5-year leasing plan that have been subject to moratoria inthe past, the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) said.

California state Sen. Steve Peace last week asked state energyregulators to reject utility attempts to recover through retailrates the under-collections from the continuing wholesale powerprice spikes and instead get the funds from generators andmarketers who are charging the market-based prices.

California state Sen. Steve Peace last week asked state energyregulators to reject utility attempts to recover through retailrates the under-collections from the continuing wholesale powerprice spikes and instead get the funds from generators andmarketers who are charging the market-based prices.

As the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission prepared to weigh inthis morning with the federal government’s answer to California’sbe-deviled power market, free market advocates issued last minutewarnings against taking the price cap route espoused by theCal-ISO. FERC’s meeting is scheduled to start at 9 AM EST. (Checkhttp://intelligencepress.com this morning for updates)

Recognizing the inevitability of heightened gas demand from theNortheast generation market over the next 20 years, a Department ofEnergy (DOE) study released last week calls for an acceleration ofthe FERC certificate process to pave the way for more gas pipelineand storage capacity to the region to help reduce its singulardependence on home heating oil and to avoid recurrences of lastwinter’s heating oil price spikes.

FERC Chairman James Hoecker extended an olive branch to theboard of trustees of the North American Electric ReliabilityCouncil (NERC) last week, urging it and the Commission to work morecooperatively toward a common goal – ensuring the reliability ofthe bulk electric market.