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After claiming last week that Hurricane Lili had sunk one of its rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, Rowan Companies Inc. said last week that a closer look revealed that the Rowan-Houston was involved in a “collision” resulting in the rig sinking. The company said the investigation is ongoing.

Last week may prove memorable for what it wasn’t, as much as for what it was, when it came to energy companies and the New York Stock Exchange. It was a miserable week, all in all, with the only bright edges seen on Friday, when the shares of most of the merchants and utilities saw a little daylight. Wary investors may have hedged their bets a little, because energy stocks were lower overall than they’ve been in years.

In a complaint filed at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week, Pan-Alberta Gas (US) Inc. (PAGUS) and Mirant Americas Energy Marketing L.P. accused Enron-affiliated Northern Border Pipeline Co. of trying to “subvert” their rights to match competing third-party bids for pipeline capacity under the right-of-first refusal (ROFR) process.

Cash prices moved sharply lower on Friday for the Columbus Day weekend despite the surprisingly rapid rise in the natural gas futures market. While November futures ended the day up more than 30 cents, mild weekend weather and weak demand left cash with nowhere to go but down. Most points tumbled 10-20 cents, which put many locations back down near bidweek levels.

New Orleans-based Entergy Corp. expects to exceed its earnings estimate by at least 10 cents in the third quarter, and now expects to exceed its earnings guidance for the entire year 10-20 cents, benefiting from stronger than expected wholesale energy marketing and trading sales and continued improvement in the regional economy.

With three hour-plus conference calls over four business days, TXU Corp.’s management team offered assurances that the corporation was liquid and strong. The losses, they kept reminding analysts and investors, were only within its European affiliates. By the end of the week, the Dallas-based corporation appeared to have calmed jittery investors, as management made clear that TXU Europe Ltd. and its entities will always be secondary to the success of the U.S. business.

Natural gas futures vaulted higher Friday in heavy activity as traders covered shorts ahead of the first blast of cold weather expected across most of the country this week. After easily piercing psychological resistance at $4.00, the November contract paused near the $4.10 mark as traders caught their breath. However, it turned out to be only a quick break and prices rallied into the closing bell. November finished at $4.146, up 31.8 cents for the session and within striking distance of the recent top at $4.25.

The continued slowdown in capital spending by U.S. producers will keep pushing natural gas production down at a rate of 1-1.5% per quarter “for the foreseeable future,” but the decline also will sustain higher gas prices, according to two investment analyst groups.

Shares of Allegheny Energy Inc. were off by more than an eye-popping 50% at one point last Tuesday after the company said that it is in technical default under its principal credit agreements and those of its subsidiaries, Allegheny Energy Supply Company LLC and Allegheny Generating Co., after it declined to post additional collateral in favor of several trading counterparties.