EnergyRSS

  • July 21, 2009

    Ecuador, Chevron Battle No Longer In US Courts

    A 16-year, $27 billion battle between Ecuador and Chevron Corp. over which should pay to fix an allegedly wrecked rain forest has left U.S. courts with a whimper, now that a judge has granted Ecuador's motion to dismiss Chevron's counterclaims with no objection from the oil giant.

  • July 21, 2009

    Anadarko Seeks To Join Interstate Water Feud

    Oil and gas company Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has reportedly made a bid to intervene in a long-running water rights dispute in which Montana has accused Wyoming of violating an interstate water compact by refusing to curtail its consumption of water from the Tongue and Powder rivers.

  • July 21, 2009

    9th Circ. Rejects Trout Groups' FERC Challenge

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission did not err when it denied two trout advocates' bids for late intervention in a proceeding to change water flow at a California dam to protect an imperiled toad at the expense of the rainbow trout, a federal appeals court has ruled.

  • July 21, 2009

    Govs. Seek More Energy Incentives In Climate Bill

    Governors from four states told a U.S. Senate panel Tuesday that, in order to spark job creation and green technology innovation at the state level, federal lawmakers should consider widening the scope of technology and development incentives in climate-change legislation.

  • July 20, 2009

    Plaintiffs In Massey Slurry Suit Want Judge Tossed

    West Virginians alleging that a Massey Energy Co. unit destroyed their groundwater supply with more than 1 billion gallons of coal slurry are reportedly demanding that a state judge recuse himself from the case due to his friendship with Massey's CEO and his appointment of another friend to oversee a monitoring fund.

  • July 20, 2009

    Coal Miners Dig For Unpaid Overtime In BHP Dispute

    More than 150 coal miners at a New Mexico unit of BHP Billiton Ltd. have accused the company of willfully failing to pay the employees for time they spend at the beginning and end of their shifts receiving safety instructions and other information from the plant's management.

  • July 20, 2009

    PG&E Meter Reader Seeks OT Class Cert.

    A former hiring hall meter reader for Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has asked the court to include several hundred hourly employees in a lawsuit accusing the utility of skimping on its overtime wages in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

  • July 20, 2009

    SemGroup, Managers Reach Deal On Ch. 11 Plan

    SemGroup LP has struck an agreement with four members of the company’s management committee in which the members have agreed to back the oil and gas services firm’s reorganization plan and resolve litigation over who had the right to propose the plan.

  • July 17, 2009

    US Shipping Deal With Blackstone, Cerberus OK'd

    A judge has approved a settlement between bankrupt U.S. Shipping Partners LP and affiliates of the Blackstone Group and Cerberus Partners LP, allowing the private equity firms to take over interests in a joint oil tanker venture in exchange for about $14 million.

  • July 17, 2009

    Feds Offer Oil Lease Sales Despite DC Circ. Ruling

    The U.S. government is proceeding with the sale of offshore oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico that could yield hundreds of millions of barrels of oil, despite a federal appeals court decision finding the Bush-era program controlling the leases did not account for environmental damages.

  • July 17, 2009

    Exxon Employees Fight NYC Subpoena In MTBE Suit

    Former and current employees of Exxon Mobil Corp. have moved to quash trial subpoenas in New York City's suit against the oil company over the gasoline additive methyl tertiary-butyl ether, contending the court can't summons non-officers living more than 100 miles away.

  • July 17, 2009

    EU Targets Energy, Tech, Drugs For Antitrust Action

    The European Commission will step up antitrust enforcement in the technology, energy, drug and transportation sectors, Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes announced Friday.

  • July 17, 2009

    Southern Union Unit Settles With Spill Victims

    A division of Southern Union Co. has agreed to bury the hatchet with 90 Rhode Island residents over a 2004 incident in which illegally stored liquid mercury was vandalized from a Pawtucket facility, leading to a hazardous spill that affected a nearby apartment complex.

  • July 17, 2009

    FERC Spares Small Utilities From Power Market Rule

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has mostly affirmed a rule designed to make wholesale electricity markets more competitive and save energy, despite utilities' protests that it had overstepped its jurisdiction.

  • July 16, 2009

    Provident Creditors Seek Hearing In SEC Ponzi Suit

    The creditors committee for Provident Royalties LLC has asked a federal judge for an emergency hearing on its bid to intervene in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission suit accusing the company of running a $485 million Ponzi scheme, citing fast-moving developments in its bankruptcy.

  • July 16, 2009

    FERC Powers Forward With Smart Grid Policy

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission adopted a policy statement Thursday that the agency says will accelerate the development of a smart grid for the nation's electrical transmission system.

  • July 16, 2009

    Westmoreland To Pay MMS $13.5M Over Royalties

    Westmoreland Coal Co. has agreed to pay about $13.5 million to settle claims that it shortchanged the Minerals Management Service on coal royalties, although most of the money will actually come from its customers.

  • July 16, 2009

    Trustee Balks At TXCO's Bid To Retain Locke Lord

    The U.S. trustee overseeing the bankruptcy case of oil and gas giant TXCO Resources Inc. is objecting to the company's request to appoint Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell LLP to represent the directors in the case, arguing that they do not need their own separate counsel.

  • July 16, 2009

    EC Escapes Damages In Fight With Schneider Electric

    Europe's highest court on Thursday annulled a lower court's decision that the European Commission must pay Schneider Electric SA damages in connection with its post-acquisition sale of competitor Legrand SA.

  • July 16, 2009

    Progress Energy Sues ACE Over $9M Jury Verdict

    An affiliate of Progress Energy Inc. has sued ACE American Insurance Co., seeking indemnification and defense costs related to a $9 million jury verdict reached in a wrongful death suit brought by the family of a man who was electrocuted by a downed power line.