THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE
September 22, 2006 4:57 p.m.
Crude-oil futures sank again on the New York Mercantile Exchange, tumbling more than $1 a barrel to settle at $60.55. Crude is more than 20% below its all-time high close set in mid-July. Here is Friday’s roundup of oil and energy news.
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CLINTON’S RENEWABLE ENERGY FUND: Former President Bill Clinton announced the launch of an investment fund expected to raise more than $1 billion for renewable energy. The announcement, made on the last day of his Global Initiative Conference, came a day after British business mogul Richard Branson pledged $3 billion to battle global warming.
•Controversial Lease Sale on Hold: The Interior Department has agreed to temporarily abandon the sale of oil leases in an environmentally sensitive area surrounding Lake Teshekpuk on Alaska’s North Slope.
•Threats to Oil-Sands Projects: High costs threaten potentially lucrative Canadian oil-sands projects, according to Murray Edwards, vice-chairman of Canadian Natural Resources, the Globe and Mail reports.
•Changes to California Energy Plan: In an effort to avoid another energy crisis, federal regulators have approved fundamental changes in the way California’s electricity market works, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
•Saipem Wins Big Contracts: Italian oil services company Saipem SpA said it has won two onshore construction contracts worth a total $1.42 billion, in Saudi Arabia and Peru.
•Energy IPO Due Next Week: Houston oil and gas producer EV Energy Partners L.P. is slated to go public next week with a sale of 3.9 million common units, priced in a range of $19 to $21.
•Indonesia Signs Several Contracts: Indonesia signed production-sharing contracts with Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips, Petronas, Husky Energy, Marathon Oil and Talisman Energy, in an effort to boost production.
•Dynegy Executive Gets Shorter Sentence: A former midlevel Dynegy Inc. executive who had originally received a 24-year prison term for his role in a fraudulent accounting scheme was resentenced Friday to six years in prison.
•Solar Valley: As demand for clean energy rises around the world, Silicon Valley, the nation’s high-tech hub, is looking to squeeze more money out of silicon, the Associated Press reports.