As the dust settles in the wake of the ground-shifting mid-term congressional and state elections, it seems that the joy expressed by many in the oil and gas business is neither unanimous nor complete.
Amid the general exuberance in the sectors over the dramatic gains turned in by Republicans was a somewhat cautious, be-careful-what-you-wish-for feeling among gas pipeliners.
The folks at Tudor Pickering Holt are not so impressed, but we kind of are: US shale-cracking techniques are making their overseas debut.
It's one of the first instances of
Warren Buffett's annual letter to shareholders draws a lot of attention to the philosphy and folksiness of the Berkshire Hathaway guru's view of business and life. It also this year was a refresher on the basics of utility regulation: what he sees as the social pact between MidAmerican Energy and its public. And how he sees that same deal applying to Berkshire's newest holding, BNSF, the railroad.
"Our regulated electric utilities, offering monopoly service in most cases, operate in a symbiotic manner with the customers in their service areas," Buffett's letter says.
The Chinese like US gas producers Chesapeake and Anadarko.
But not a lot.
For all the talk of innovation in the electricity sector, there's precious little of it, at least the kind that resonates with ordinary people as something concrete they could actually use without a hassle. But David Crane at NRG Energy may have something.
One of NRG's plans, Crane said at a Credit Suisse energy conference Thursday, is to sell monthly contracts, like cell phone contracts, to customers of its Reliant Energy utility, for charging electric vehicles.
A play about Enron, in
Having covered the five-month trial of Skilling and former Enron Chairman Ken Lay in Houston in 2004, and having sat through their dramatic sentencing hearing just weeks before Ken Lay suddenly died, I feel as though I have already seen at least one version of "Enron."
It's not quite "Tear down this wall," but the Russian bear can only play hardball with natural gas and its neighbors before the free market brings a response.
While ExxonMobil's announcement that it's buying Fort Worth's XTO Energy for $31 billion and $10 billion in debt is a rousing cheer for US shale producers, the real stimulus has been Russia's annual bully-thy-neighbor approach to winter gas supplies.
How much are these guys really worth?
On Monday, the Financial Times ranked 35 oil and gas CEOs on their salary versus their performance.
The 33rd-ranked guy -- Chesapeake's Aubrey McClendon, whose $112.4 million pay package for 2009 is the at the center of a court case in Oklahoma -- delivered so-so performance for company stock (29th out of 35) based on the FT's one-year snapshot.
Who said sex has no place in the power industry? A really strong CEO probably gets that thrill from the work, and John Rowe revealed it today.
At the National Press Club, the Exelon CEO was asked if it was still important to his company, if it wanted to be a national utility, to develop a Texas presence by buying NRG Energy. He'll be 64 next week, he said. "I'm an aging male. Lust is a constant problem."
If the NRG deal doesn't work out, would he be looking at other purchase opportunities? 'I've had a rabid devotion to shareholder value," Rowe said, "and I'll have to learn to keep my lust under control."
About that NRG deal, Rowe said he would sue NRG if its shareholders don't meet soon to consider Exelon's $6 billion hostile takeover bid.
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