Wrong

Looking to return what’s left of clients’ money after losing in excess of $6 billion on wrong-way natural gas bets during September, Amaranth Advisors LLC has hired Fortress Investment Group LLC to help sell its hedge-fund holdings, according to Associated Press reports.

Just days after hedge fund Amaranth Advisors LLC warned investors of significant losses due to wrong-way bets in the natural gas futures arena, the company’s founder in a conference call with investors Friday said Amaranth plans to continue operations while working to restore the confidence of investors.

Right or wrong, the five-year-old perception that Enron Corp. caused California’s energy crisis in 2000-2001 remains fixed in the collective mind of the nation’s most populous state, and the reaction Thursday to the guilty verdicts against Enron’s two former leaders for the most part was that justice had been done, but the state’s electricity consumers continue to pay for the former executives’ misdeeds.

After nearly eight days on the witness stand trying to convince jurors that he did nothing wrong as president, COO and CEO of Enron Corp., Jeffrey Skilling was able to relax — sort of — by midday Thursday. Tired after a grueling cross-examination that lasted three days, Skilling told reporters outside the Houston courtroom that he had said what he wanted to say.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but “the bears were again proven wrong” when it comes to exploration and development (E&D) spending, says Raymond James & Associates in its weekly research note. In fact, say the firm’s energy analysts, E&D spending for their selected universe of companies posted 41% growth over 2004.

To be sure, relations between FERC and the states can get testy at times. But it would be the wrong call for FERC to give up on trying to work with the states in crafting energy policy, John Moot, general counsel at the federal agency, said last week.

Developers of new Alberta natural gas supplies, led by the budding coalbed methane harvest, have received official notice that this is the wrong time to ask for government incentives in Canada’s chief producing province. Erosion of the Alberta government share of revenues generated by increased gas and oil prices has ignited questions even among the province’s ruling Conservatives and a government review of the royalty structure is under way.

FERC made the wrong call in disallowing tariff provisions proposed by Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled last Tuesday. The utilities had offered a rate designed to recover from two classes of customers cost differentials from additional expenses arising out of the formation and maintenance of the California Independent system Operator (CAISO).

Xcel Energy’s trading operations are being targeted for study by Colorado state regulators, who said they don’t expect to find anything wrong. A report last Thursday in the Denver Post said the state utilities commission wants to probe how the trading impacts retail utility customers in the state.