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Enron Mail |
USA: New Power adds 20 percent to customer base with two deals.
Reuters English News Service, 07/05/01 GERMANY: German utilities should expand abroad - consultant. Reuters English News Service, 07/05/01 NewPower Hldgs To Buy AES Corp Unit Dow Jones News Service, 07/05/01 INDIA: Belgium's Tractabel to divest India stake-paper. Reuters English News Service, 07/05/01 TransAlta sells power unit: $850M deal: Final step in retreat from regulated electricity industry National Post, 07/05/01 WORLD NEWS - LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN - Brazil plans for emergency energy supply. Financial Times, 07/05/01 In India, Other Firms Feel Enron's Pain --- Some Are Trying to Help Resolve the Dispute Over Dabhol Project The Wall Street Journal, 07/05/01 Efforts by Enron and Indian State To Revive Dabhol Result in Logjam --- Some Foreign Lenders to Electricity Project Strive to Resolve Conflict The Wall Street Journal Europe, 07/05/01 DENMARK: Enron says may spin off wind power arm this year. Reuters English News Service, 07/04/01 Guest Host Continued CNNfn: Market Coverage - Morning, 07/04/01 UK: Enron extends bid deadline in UK gas entry system. Reuters English News Service, 07/04/01 Enron Extends UK Virtual Gas Capacity Auction Deadline Dow Jones Energy Service, 07/04/01 JAPAN: Korea Aluminium-Imports seen cheaper than govt stock sales. Reuters English News Service, 07/04/01 Decision on judicial probe on Enron issue by July 11 Reuters English News Service, 07/04/01 DPC receives one week extension over HC's July 10 deadline Press Trust of India Limited, 07/04/01 Lenders for splitting DPC assets to cut takeover cost Business Standard, 07/04/01 Water treatment contract approved Houston Chronicle, 07/04/01 Ex-Houston judge to be special counsel / Andell to advise education secretary Houston Chronicle, 07/04/01 Gas rates plunging Lethbridge Herald, 07/04/01 Fimat USA's Kilduff: Oil Prices, OPEC and Stock Picks Bloomberg, 07/05/01 India Risks Lower Rating If Budget Deficits Grow, S&P Says Bloomberg, 07/05/01 S&P's Mukherji on Risk of Lower Rating for India: Comment Bloomberg, 07/05/01 Indian Oil Companies Cut Naphtha Price, Paper Says (Correct) Bloomberg, 07/05/01 India Risks Lower Rating If Deficits Grow, S&P Says (Update1) Bloomberg, 07/05/01 USA: New Power adds 20 percent to customer base with two deals. 07/05/2001 Reuters English News Service (C) Reuters Limited 2001. NEW YORK, July 5 (Reuters) - New Power Co., a national energy provider partly owned by powerhouse Enron Corp., on Thursday increased its customer base by about 20 percent and its visibility in Pennsylvania and Ohio with two separate acquisitions. Financial terms were not disclosed. New Power, a unit of NewPower Holdings Inc. , which was formed to take advantage of electricity deregulation, added a total of 121,000 electric and natural gas customers to its customer base of about 615,000. New Power said it signed an agreement to buy the customer base and related assets of AES Direct, the retail marketing subsidiary of independent power company AES Corp. , which includes natural gas inventory, supply and transportation contracts as well as billing and customer service operations. It also bought Ohio-based customers from CoEnergy, a unit of Michigan-based DTE Energy , gaining entry into service areas of four additional utilities. Shares of New Energy closed at $8.75 on Tuesday, well below its 52-week high of $28.69 but above its low of $4.63. GERMANY: German utilities should expand abroad - consultant. 07/05/2001 Reuters English News Service (C) Reuters Limited 2001. COLOGNE, Germany, July 5 (Reuters) - Germany's top utilities lag far behind major foreign rivals in the share of revenues derived internationally, which could limit future growth, a consultant told an industry conference on Thursday. "Germany's market leaders lag behind in their market presence in Europe and the rest of the world," said Volker Flegel, a European energy expert at consultancy A.T. Kearney's Munich office. "If they don't act fast, the gap will widen....They have to adopt more of a pan-European perspective," he said, singling out Spain as the most attractive investment target. Flegel said revenues generated outside Germany by the country's top four utilities ranged between 3.0 percent of turnover at HEW, to 11 percent at E.ON, 11.7 percent at RWE. By comparison, the shares of foreign sales at U.S. energy groups TXU and Enron were 36 percent and 18.6 percent. Foreign sales contributed 18.6 percent to turnover at French/Belgian group Electrabel and 18.3 percent at France's EdF. Flegel pointed out that expansive internationalisation, which began in the late 1980s, has already had helped some German utilities achieve annual sales growth of up to 30 percent. Both RWE and E.ON have made forays into the British market, and are currently bidding for stakes in Spanish firms, along with EnBW. Flegel said the return on electricity sales in the Spanish market was two to four times higher than in Germany. Spain's annual consumption growth in recent years has reached as much as six percent. In addition, Spain could be used as a bridgehead for acquisitions in Latin America, where the firms are already involved, he said. Apart from Spain, A.T. Kearney identified a list of countries it viewed as attractive both in size and market conditions for foreign entrants - including France, Italy, Finland, Britain, Poland, Sweden and, outside Europe, the United States and Brazil. In the dynamic Italian market, newcomers by 2003 should have captured already one quarter of the market, Flegel said. In central Europe, Swiss companies will be the engines behind sale growth in the trading of power, through their hydropower capacities and its shareholdings in French power firms. The Scandinavian markets are lucrative, although comparably small, because their per-capita power usage is three to five times higher than in the rest of Europe, Flegel said. This is partly due to ample supply and low prices, which encourage consumers to use electric power for home heating. The growth potential in eastern Europe comes from projected consumption rises of 27.1 percent annually between 1996 and 2005. Prices have not risen so far, but Flegel said he expects increases in the medium term. NewPower Hldgs To Buy AES Corp Unit 07/05/2001 Dow Jones News Service (Copyright © 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) PURCHASE, N.Y. -(Dow Jones)- NewPower Holdings Inc.'s (NPW) New Power Co. unit agreed to acquire the customers and related assets of AES Corp.'s (AES) AES Power Direct retail marketing unit. In a press release Thursday, NewPower Holdings also said it agreed to acquire the customers and natural gas inventory, related to the Columbia Gas of Ohio and Dominion East Ohio gas customer choice programs, of CoEnergy Trading Co., a unit of DTE Energy Co. (DTE). Financial terms of both deals weren't disclosed. Together, the deals significantly expand NewPower's presence in Ohio, where the company will add over 82,000 natural gas and electric customers, and in Pennsylvania, where NewPower will add about 38,000 natural gas customers. INDIA: Belgium's Tractabel to divest India stake-paper. 07/05/2001 Reuters English News Service (C) Reuters Limited 2001. BOMBAY, July 5 (Reuters) - Yet another foreign power firm is bailing out of India, several financial newspapers reported on Thursday. Belgian power firm Tractabel plans to sell its stake in a joint venture with India's Jindal Vijaynagar Steel Ltd , both The Economic Times and the Times of India said. Tractabel, a subsidiary of the giant French water and power utility company Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux SA , will receive 2.35 billion rupees ($49.9 million) for its 50 percent stake in Jindal Tractabel Power Company and reimbursement of development expenses. The Economic Times said lenders to the project would buy a 38 percent stake in Jindal Tractabel, while the Jindal group would buy the remaining 12 percent from Tractabel. The Times of India put the sale price at two billion rupees, and provided a more detailed description of the terms of the sale to Indian financial institutions and O P Jindal Group companies. The financial institutions were identified as the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) and ICICI Ltd , and the O P Jindal group companies as Saw Pipes and Jindal Power. A senior offical of the Jindal group, founders of JVSL, declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. The joint venture owns a 260 MW power plant at Bellary in the southern state of Karnataka, and supplies power to a nearby JVSL steel unit. Tractabel's exit from India comes at a time when U.S. giant Enron Corp is locked in a battle with a utility in India's Maharashtra state, which has defaulted on $48 million in power payments. Other international power firms have also found the going tough in India due to regulatory delays and litigation. US firm Cogentrix exited a 1,000-MW project in Karnataka in 1999, Electricite de France scrapped plans for a 15 percent stake in a $1.4 billion project in Maharashtra last year, and South Korea's Daewoo Corp abandoned a 1,070 MW project in central India. ($1=47.12 Indian rupees). Financial Post TransAlta sells power unit: $850M deal: Final step in retreat from regulated electricity industry Carol Howes Financial Post, with files from The Canadian Press 07/05/2001 National Post National C01 / Front © National Post 2001. All Rights Reserved. CALGARY - TransAlta Corp. has struck an $850-million deal to sell its power transmission business to a consortium of companies led by SNC-Lavalin Inc. and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board. The sale is the final step in TransAlta's program to divest about $2-billion in assets during the past two years as it retreated from the regulated power industry and focused on electrical generation and marketing. "It was challenging," said Steve Snyder, TransAlta's president and chief executive, yesterday. "This is it, in terms of the core restructuring." TransAlta expects to realize earnings from the sale of about $100-million, or 60 cents per share, which will be put toward the expansion of power generation plants in Canada and Mexico. The Calgary-based electric company has plans to spend up to $1.5-billion a year over the next five years to bulk up on its power generation, nearly doubling its 8,000 megawatts of capacity. Mr. Snyder said TransAlta will focus on ensuring its generation assets meet its target of a 15% return on equity. If they don't, those assets could also come under review, he said. The sale comes as Enron Corp., the biggest energy trader in North America, has begun selling electricity and natural gas to consumers in Alberta. The electricity industry opened to competition on Jan. 1. The move prompted ATCO Ltd. to follow TransAlta and put its retail electricity and gas units up for sale. The consortium buying the transmission assets, known as AltaLink, sees the potential to expand the system both inside and outside Alberta, said Mr. Snyder. The group also includes Trans-Elect Inc., a new U.S.-based independent power transmission company that is keen to add additional transmission capacity to the North American power grid, and Macquarie North America Ltd., an Australian-owned investment bank. Mr. Snyder said TransAlta's transmission assets attracted interest from U.S. and international firms, but he was always hopeful a Canadian buyer could be found. Under the agreement, the teachers pension fund will assume all the transmission business's debt. "Infrastructure investments are attractive to us because they will give us stable, real return," said Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan spokeswoman Lee Fullerton. "They're fairly low-volatility because they're regulated by government, so they give us a very stable cash flow and they're linked to inflation." Teachers' pensions are also indexed to inflation and this made the investment -- the pension plan's first large infrastructure deal -- attractive, Ms. Fullerton said. "This acquisition is a milestone occasion for SNC-Lavalin since it is an important investment in Alberta," said Pierre Anctil, an executive vice-president at the Montreal company. "By combining the strengths of the TransAlta team with our considerable financial and technical expertise, we are well-placed to deliver top-quality transmission services to Albertans, and meet current and future needs." Mr. Snyder said in May at the company's annual meeting that it was looking to sell its heavily regulated transmission business, which accounts for about half of Alberta's power grid and 10% of the company's assets. It has 250 employees. The company owns and operates more than 11,000 kilometres of high-voltage lines in southern Alberta. Under the deal, SNC will own 50% of the equity, the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board about 25% and Macquarie North America, about 15%. Trans-Elect will be brought in to operate the transmission lines and will own 10% of the equity. Karen Taylor, an analyst at BMO Nesbitt Burns in Toronto, said the value of the assets was in line with what analysts expected. "It is at present time a relatively low-return, stable business," she said. Nick Majendie , a Vancouver analyst with Canaccord Capital Corp., said TransAlta has done a good job executing its plan to restructure and expects the latest sale to be well received by investors. TransAlta started down the road to becoming a pure play when it sold its retail electricity business and local power lines to Kansas City-based Utilicorp United Inc. for $860-million. UtiliCorp subsequently sold the retail electricity business to Edmonton's municipally owned Epcor Utilities Inc. for $110-million. SNC-Lavalin is one of the world's biggest engineering and construction companies with offices in 30 countries. The Montreal-based company also owns, partly owns or manages infrastructure, ranging from the 407 toll highway north of Toronto to other projects. The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, with assets of more than $70-billion, is Canada's second biggest pension fund and handles the retirement investments of Ontario's 230,000 active and retired teachers. WORLD NEWS - LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN - Brazil plans for emergency energy supply. By RAYMOND COLITT and GEOFF DYER. 07/05/2001 Financial Times © 2001 Financial Times Limited . All Rights Reserved But the government will still face a delicate decision over when to suspend rationing, and lifting restrictions early could backfire. Geoff Dyer and Raymond Colitt report. Brazil plans to have an emergency supply of around 3,000MW of energy in place by April next year from sources such as crushed sugar cane to reduce the risk of a new round of rationing next year, according to energy officials. The spectre of widespread blackouts has faded amid strong public response to the enforced rationing measures introduced last month by the government. But attention is now turning to medium and long-term solutions to the energy crisis. Pedro Parente, the minister charged with resolving the energy crisis, said the extra power would be in addition to around 3500MW of new gas-fired capacity expected to be online by next year and would reduce the pressure on the energy system if another drought occurred over the summer months. "Rationing next year cannot be completely ruled out but we are working to limit the risk as much as possible," Mr Parente said in an interview. Having seen its approval ratings plummet because of the energy crisis, the government is desperate to avoid another round of rationing this time next year, which would fall during the presidential election campaign. The emergency supply measures will supplement the longer-term energy strategy to be outlined today by President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, which will lean heavily on a rapid expansion in gas-fired power stations. Mr Parente said that by 2003, there would be sufficient new capacity in place so there would be no need for rationing by then. The extra energy supply for next year will include alternative energy sources, such as generators fuelled by crushed sugar cane and wind power. Full details of the programme would be ready by early August, he said. Even with these measures and the new gas power stations, however, the outlook for next year will still hinge on the level of rainfall during the wet summer months from October to March. Around 90 per cent of Brazil's energy comes from hydro-electric plants that are powered by water from reservoirs. During the last summer, rainfall was 71 per cent of its historic average, a level of rain that has been exceeded in all but 14 of the last 70 years. The north-east, the worst affected area, had only received such little rain in three of the last 70 years. According to initial estimates, Mr Parente said that with the expected increase in supply from gas-fired plants, there would probably be no need for rationing next year if rainfall reached 76 per cent its historic average over the summer. If rainfall was below that figure, then the emergency supply measures would limit the extent of a new rationing programme. Questions remain, however, over how many new gas-fired plants will be in place by next year. El Paso and Enron, the US power companies, could put a total of 890MW on line by 2002, but say they are waiting to find out more about the regulations they will face. Regardless, some experts say the need for compulsory rationing next year could be reduced as companies and consumers discover the potential for permanent energy savings, thereby limiting the rebound in demand if restrictions are lifted. But even if the government brings on the necessary new capacity and rainfall does not disappoint, it will still face a delicate decision over when to suspend rationing. "Lifting restrictions prematurely could backfire politically and technically," says Mauricio Tolmasquim, an energy expert at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. © Copyright Financial Times Ltd. All rights reserved. http://www.ft.com. Politics & Economy Efforts by Enron and Indian State To Revive Dabhol Result in Logjam --- Some Foreign Lenders to Electricity Project Strive to Resolve Conflict By Daniel Pearl Staff Reporter 07/05/2001 The Wall Street Journal Europe 2 (Copyright © 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) BOMBAY -- Once touted as a beacon for attracting foreign investment to India, Enron Corp.'s $3 billion (3.54 billion euro) Dabhol Power Co. project has turned into a nuisance for some foreign companies doing business in the country. Behind the scenes, some of them are now maneuvering to help resolve a dispute between Dabhol and the Indian state of Maharashtra that is at the core of the project's problems. The largest foreign investment ever in India, Dabhol is now mired in conflict. The state of Maharashtra, Dabhol's largest customer, has stopped purchasing power from the 740-megawatt project, saying that the tariffs are too high. Work has stopped on a nearly completed second phase of the project slated to generate 1,444 megawatts. Enron, which controls 65% of the project, has tried unsuccessfully to scale back its stake, and may be looking to exit entirely. In an effort to get the project back on track, some of the electricity project's foreign lenders -- including ABN Amro, Bank of America and Credit Suisse First Boston -- sent representatives to a recent meeting here with Maharashtra's electricity board. Dabhol's difficulties are making lenders wary about funding other power projects in the country, and could make states bolder about seeking new contract terms. That has left other power companies increasingly nervous about Dabhol. Some have signaled they could be interested in taking over Dabhol if its contract problems can be settled. Dabhol participants still aren't sure if the interest is sincere, or an attempt to prevent collateral damage to their own projects. India's Reliance Industries Ltd., which in partnership with Southern Co. of the U.S. is hoping to build a big plant in eastern India, doesn't deny media speculation that it is interested in Dabhol. Nor does AES Corp., whose generating company has had disputes with customers in India's Orissa state. Prakash Daryani, managing director for Houston-based El Paso Corp.'s Indian power unit, says if the Dabhol contract isn't resolved in a way that makes both the utility and its customer happy, "it will have an adverse impact" on other investments, and "El Paso will not be an exception." He denies reports that El Paso, which helped build a 340-megawatt plant in southern India, has expressed interest in buying Dabhol, but adds, "We are keeping our eyes and ears open." Some companies may be doing more than that. Patrick Sonti, an energy consultant in New Delhi, says he helped draft a plan outlining a way out of the Dabhol impasse, with price concessions on both sides and financial separation of Enron's liquefied-natural-gas terminal from the power plant. Mr. Sonti says he studied Dabhol for a client whose name he can't disclose. Mr. Sonti also is chairman of an American Chamber of Commerce committee on energy, and he acknowledges discussing his Dabhol plan with some of the panel's members. He says the chamber wouldn't intervene unless asked by Enron . Last time the project ran into political trouble, Enron executives saved it through a intensive lobbying campaign, aided by U.S. officials. Next week, the company's chairman, Kenneth Lay, is expected to fly to India, though Enron won't comment on whom he intends to visit. Even though officials from Enron and Maharashtra have met regularly, their dispute has fallen into a slow-motion stalemate, with Enron saying it hasn't agreed to renegotiate the contract and the state insisting it has already rescinded the contract. Despite warnings that construction delays will increase the project's cost by up to $400 million, Vinay Bansal, chairman of the electricity board, said Monday that getting the project's second phase running is "not a priority for us," since the state can't afford the power. The Dabhol contract requires the state to pay for most of the plant's generating capacity regardless of how much power it consumes. Maharashtra's consumption has been far below projections. Mr. Bansal wants India's central government to help buy excess power from Dabhol, but "they keep saying no." Other states would be willing to buy power if the rates could be lowered to 2.50 rupees (6.3 European cents) a unit, but that is still well below Dabhol officials' most optimistic projection. Meanwhile, India's regulators and courts are throwing in new twists. The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Board, set up as an independent body to regulate electricity rates, is seeking jurisdiction over the Dabhol dispute, even though the board was created after the contract was signed. Enron wants an arbitration panel to decide, instead. A Bombay judge last week made a ruling that is likely to send the jurisdiction battle to India's Supreme Court. If Enron loses that battle, it is likely to lose more time. "We'll make the process totally transparent," P. Subramanyam, chairman of the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Board, promised in an interview earlier this year But if Dabhol construction doesn't resume by summer's end, Enron's liquefied-natural-gas suppliers are likely to get nervous. Dabhol has 20-year contracts requiring it to buy liquefied natural gas from Abu Dhabi and from Oman starting next year. Royal Dutch/Shell Group, which has a 30% stake in Oman LNG, says it "would expect" Dabhol to honor its obligations. An Enron spokesman said gas suppliers are "obviously concerned about what's going on," but that the issue hasn't yet come to a head. Concerned Suppliers As for the lenders, Indian banks have more to lose than foreign banks if Dabhol, starved of revenue, continues to miss payments. That is because much of the foreign debt is guaranteed by the Indian banks, led by state-controlled Industrial Development Bank of India. For the project's second phase, foreign debt totals nearly $1.1 billion and domestic debt about $330 million. Lenders haven't agreed to inject more funds to allow construction to resume. "I don't think there is any division among lenders at the moment as to what should be done," says one international lender involved in the talks. "But this is not an easy workout, having so many parties involved in so many parts of the world." International In India, Other Firms Feel Enron's Pain --- Some Are Trying to Help Resolve the Dispute Over Dabhol Project By Daniel Pearl Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal 07/05/2001 The Wall Street Journal A8 (Copyright © 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) BOMBAY, India -- Once touted as a beacon for attracting foreign investment to India, Enron Corp.'s $3 billion Dabhol Power Co. project has turned into a nuisance for some foreign companies doing business in the country. Behind the scenes, some of them are now maneuvering to help resolve a dispute between Dabhol and the Indian state of Maharashtra that is at the core of the project's problems. The largest foreign investment ever in India, Dabhol is mired in conflict. The state of Maharashtra, Dabhol's only customer, has stopped purchasing power from the 740-megawatt project, saying its rates are too high. Work has stopped on a nearly completed second phase of the project slated to generate 1,444 megawatts. Enron, which controls 65% of the project, has tried unsuccessfully to scale back its stake and may be looking to exit entirely. In an effort to get the project back on track, some of the electricity project's foreign lenders -- including ABN Amro, Bank of America and Credit Suisse First Boston -- sent representatives to a recent meeting here with Maharashtra's electricity board. Dabhol's difficulties are making lenders wary about funding other power projects in the country, and could make states bolder about seeking new contract terms. That has left other power companies increasingly nervous about Dabhol. Some have signaled they could be interested in taking over Dabhol if its contract problems can be settled. Dabhol participants still aren't sure if the interest is sincere or is an attempt by the other companies to prevent collateral damage to their own projects. India's Reliance Industries Ltd., which in partnership with Southern Co. of Atlanta is hoping to build a big plant in eastern India, doesn't deny press speculation that it is interested in Dabhol. Nor does Arlington, Va.-based AES Corp., whose generating company has had disputes with India's Orissa state. Prakash Daryani, managing director for Houston-based El Paso Corp.'s Indian power unit, says that if the Dabhol contract is not resolved in a way that makes both the utility and Maharashtra happy, "it will have an adverse impact" on other investments, and "El Paso will not be an exception." He denies reports that El Paso, which helped build a 340-megawatt plant in Southern India, has expressed interest in buying Dabhol, but adds: "We are keeping our eyes and ears open." Some companies may be doing more than that. Patrick Sonti, a New Delhi-based energy consultant, said he had helped draft a plan outlining a way out of the Dabhol impasse, with price concessions on both sides and financial separation of Enron's liquefied-natural gas terminal from the power plant. Mr. Sonti says he studied Dabhol for a client whose name he can't disclose. Mr. Sonti also chairs an American Chamber of Commerce committee on energy, and he acknowledges discussing his Dabhol plan with some of the panel's members. He says the Chamber wouldn't intervene unless asked by Enron. Last time the project ran into political trouble, Enron executives saved it through an intensive lobbying campaign, aided by American officials. Next week, the company's chairman, Kenneth Lay, is expected to fly to India, though Enron won't comment on whom he intends to visit. Even though Enron and Maharashtra officials have met regularly, their dispute has fallen into a slow-motion stalemate, with Enron saying it hasn't agreed to renegotiate the contract and the state insisting it has already rescinded the contract. Despite warnings that construction delays will increase the project's cost by up to $400 million, Vinay Bansal, chairman of the electricity board, said Monday that getting the project's second phase running is "not a priority for us," since the state can't afford the power. The Dabhol contract requires the state to pay for most of the plant's generating capacity regardless of how much power it consumes. Maharashtra's consumption has been far below projections. Mr. Bansal wants India's central government to help buy excess power from Dabhol, but "they keep saying no." Other states would be willing to buy power if the rates could be lowered to 2.50 rupees a unit, but that's still well below Dabhol officials' most optimistic projection. Meanwhile, India's regulators and courts are throwing in new twists. The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Board, set up as an independent body to regulate electricity rates, is seeking jurisdiction over the Dabhol dispute, even though the board was created after the Dabhol contract was signed. Enron wants an arbitration panel to decide, instead. A Bombay judge issue a ruling last week that is likely to send the jurisdiction battle to India's Supreme Court. If Enron loses that battle, it is likely to lose more time. "We'll make the process totally transparent," the chairman of the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Board, P. Subramanyam, promised in an interview earlier this year. But if Dabhol construction doesn't resume by summer's end, Enron's suppliers of liquefied natural gas are likely to get nervous. Dabhol has 20-year contracts requiring it to buy liquefied natural gas from Abu Dhabi and from Oman starting next year. As for the lenders, Indian banks have more to lose than foreign banks if Dabhol, starved of revenue, continues to miss payments. That is because much of the foreign debt is guaranteed by the Indian banks, led by state-controlled Industrial Development Bank of India. For the project's second phase, foreign debt totals nearly $1.1 billion, and domestic debt about $330 million. Lenders haven't yet agreed to inject more funds to allow construction to resume. "I don't think there is any division among lenders at the moment as to what should be done," says an international lender involved in the talks. "But this is not an easy workout, having so many parties involved in so many parts of the world." DENMARK: Enron says may spin off wind power arm this year. 07/04/2001 Reuters English News Service (C) Reuters Limited 2001. COPENHAGEN, July 4 (Reuters) - U.S. energy firm Enron Corp. may spin off its wind power unit Enron Wind as early as this year, Enron Wind managing director Andreas Reuter said on Wednesday. "Enron has a plan to sell off its assets - not linked to trading - and Enron Wind is considered an asset. We might find a solution this year," he said. "The most likely outcome is for a financial investor to take over the company and launch an IPO in two years time," he said on the sidelines of a five-day European Wind Energy Conference and exhibition in Copenhagen. Earlier this year European private equity company Doughty Hanson & Co bought wind-power blade manufacturer Danish LM Glasfiber for an undisclosed sum, saying it planned to launch an IPO in five years. Enron Wind is focusing expansion plans on the Netherlands, Ireland, France and Britain, Reuter said. At present Enron Wind has production capacity in Europe's core wind markets Germany and Spain and has its eyes on Britain. "If the British market starts moving, we would consider manufacturing blades over there," he added. Enron had a six percent market share of the world market for installed wind turbines in 2000, while the world's largest wind turbine maker Danish Vestas Wind Systems had a market share of 18 percent. Spanish firm Gamesa Group's Gamesa Eolica - in which Vestas holds a 40 percent stake - and Danish rival NEG Micon each hold 14 percent of the market. Business Guest Host Continued Fred Katayama, Valerie Morris 07/04/2001 CNNfn: Market Coverage - Morning © Copyright Federal Document Clearing House. All Rights Reserved. FRED KATAYAMA, CNNfn ANCHOR, TALKING STOCKS: We`re back TALKING STOCKS. VALERIE MORRIS, CNNfn ANCHOR, TALKING STOCKS: And the person we`re speaking with is Michael Carty of New Millennium advisors. You can call or e-mail your question. The phone number is 1(800)304-fnet. The e-mail address is moneygang@cnnfn.com KATAYAMA: And our first caller, not fist caller but towards the end of our show our caller is for this segment the first caller. That honor goes to Roseanne in New York. Hi, Roseanne. MORRIS: New Mexico I think KATAYAMA: Oh, in New Mexico that`s right. CALLER: Good afternoon. I would appreciate your near and long term comments on Enron (URL: http://.www.enron.com/) . CARTY: OK. Now see Enron is a classic example of what I`ve been discussing. Enron is a wonderful company. it`s well diversified primarily in natural gas area and it`s a very well managed company. It`s high diversified geographically here in the United States and it`s a company that should benefit enormously by any improvement in the energy policy here in the United States. And look at where that price is. I mean we`re talking about the market giving that stock away at this point. KATAYAMA: Plus Enron had been in that deal with, if I remember correctly, Blockbuster (URL: http://www.blockbuster.com/) to deliver video through its lines and that deal fell apart. CARTY: That`s right. But it really didn`t need it because quite frankly this is a diversified energy company that will benefit through any improvement in energy policy in this country, any improvement. MORRIS: We have a caller from Louisiana joining us now. Jim, hi. What`s your question? CALLER: Yes. My question is pertaining to alternative energy and particularly fuel sale and if you`re not real hot on that you might give us a couple of picks concerning any of the drillers or oil services. Thank you. CARTY: OK. First off I like the idea of alternative energy. I came into this industry in `73, `74 out of school and that was a brutal time when we had our oil embargo and our energy crisis and alternative energy was a very big option at the time. You could do it through win. You could do it through sales. I liked the idea of doing it through sales, but remember plaices like Florida have about as much rain fall as Pennsylvania and therefor they have a lot of cloudy days and you could only use sales effectively in those states where you have an awful lot of sun such as the southwest. So, there are only of limited use So, I think that our -- the true measure of our progress in coming up with an energy solution is ultimately to go that way, but over the short term to do some drilling and those two cases I like KaraMagee (ph) and then Adorical (ph) Petroleum. They`re both well placed. They both work in drilling area and I think that at these prices they`re - this is a good entry point. KATAYAMA: Mike our guest in the last hour, Jim Waggoner touched upon this stock as one of his favorites, the storage stock EMC (URL: http://www.emc.com/) . We have an e-mail and our e-mailer wants to know your view on this stock. CARTY: As a matter of fact, when Jim was here and was talking - he was basically talking about the stocks that I love. EMC despite he look of that chart is one of them. EMC is very, very big on storage technology. In fact, years ago it was probably one of the least sophisticated in that industry and it rapidly overcame storage tech and certainly IBM (URL: http://www.ibm.com/) to the point where they had all of these installations. They put them in - they were replacing their own, they were rebuilding equipment, computers, putting their equipment in substituting it for IBM`s. They have a lot of installations. They`re technology - In doing that, their technology grew and grew and grew and they finally became one of the most sophisticated and certainly the best placed in the industry and at these prices as soon as the market, you know, as the market turns around this is a stock that`s really going to move. MORRIS: We have another caller. Jeff from Illinois, thanks for joining us. What`s your question? CALLER: Good afternoon. I wanted to know Mike`s comments on Walgreen (URL: http://www.walgreens.com/) on the short and long term. Thank you. CARTY: Wallgreen is, first of all I always shop there. I love the place. And you know, if I were going to listen to most analysts and portfolio managers they say if you like the place then you really should be investing in it. It happens to be a reasonably well run company. It`s good in terms of consumer staples. I mean they`ll probably give - despite the fact that it has dropped in price recently it will probably give you a much more stable investment than others and as a consequence if I were holding it I`d continue to hold it. If it drops any more I`ll certainly consider buying it. KATAYAMA: And we`ve got an e-mail question about Compaq (URL: http://www.compaq.com/) the PC company as well as the storage company as well as the server manufacturer. CARTY: I know. We`re holding Compaq, but Compaq is a very, very difficult thing to love because of its performance, as you see on the chart. Also Compaq is kind of interesting because Dell sells directly to or sells desk tops directly to the investor, the user, the ultimate user. Gateway (URL: http://www.gateway.com/) was doing the same thing until now Gateway has stared to pen these retail stores so that people could go in and demonstrate the system. Coimpaq, of course, was the leader in desk top sales simply because it was able to go into places like CompUSA and they had a massive distribution network. Well, the users have become much more sophisticated. Now they like to go to places like Dell. They like to go to places like Gateway. As a consequence Compaq has suffered somewhat. Also with respect to the servers it`s only now that it`s starting to look reasonably good in servers. But if I wanted to do a server play, you know, instead of Cisco I`d do Dell because Dell equipment is very good. Dell makes a very good server. So, while I would continue to hold Compaq because I believe it does represent a significant portion of the industry I don`t think that it`s something that I would just represent that sector with that one stock. MORRIS: Michael, thank you so much for spending part of your 4th of July with us. You handled a lot of calls and e-mails too. CARTY: It`s been a pleasure. MORRIS: OK. And the word is just be cautious. Don`t rush into the market and go after those industry leaders. CARTY: That`s right. MORRIS: Michael Carty from New Millennium Advisors, thank you so much. CARTY: You`re quite welcome TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 888-CNNFN-01 OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT WWW.FDCH.COM THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. Content and programming copyright 2001 Cable News Network, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Prepared by eMediaMillWorks, Inc. (f/k/a Federal Document Clearing House, Inc.) No license is granted to the user of this material other than for research. User may not reproduce or redistribute the material except for user`s personal or internal use and, in such case, only one copy may be printed, nor shall user use any material for commercial purposes or in any fashion that may infringe upon Cable News Network, Inc.`s copyright or other proprietary rights or interests in the material; provided, however, that members of the news media may redistribute limited portions (less than 250 words) of this material without a specific license from CNN so long as they provide conspicuous attribution to CNN as the originator and copyright holder of such material. This is not a legal transcript for purposes of litigation. UK: Enron extends bid deadline in UK gas entry system. 07/04/2001 Reuters English News Service (C) Reuters Limited 2001. LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) - U.S. utility Enron has extended by nearly a month the deadline for bids into a new market for bringing offshore gas onto the UK gas pipeline network, the company said on Wednesday in a statement. Due to high levels of interest in its EnCap market, Enron has extended the deadline for bids to 1200 noon local time on August 7, 2001 from a previous deadline of July 9, 2001. The first start date for contracts remains October 1, 2001. EnCap allows companies to supply gas in the UK from offshore without having to secure access rights to the national gas pipeline system. Using EnCap, companies can supply gas to Enron at beach terminals and receive the same quantity of gas at the national balancing point, a notional point in the UK gas trading market, without needing to buy entry capacity rights. Enron will buy the access rights to bring the gas into the pipeline system. EnCap is sold in lots of 10,000 therms with a minimum transaction size of 10 lots (100,000 therms) a day for five or more consecutive years. Britain auctions access rights to the gas pipeline system, owned by Lattice . Prices rose sharply in the last series of auctions, especially at the St Fergus terminal in Scotland as shippers worried about guaranteeing getting enough capacity to bring all their gas ashore. Enron Extends UK Virtual Gas Capacity Auction Deadline 07/04/2001 Dow Jones Energy Service (Copyright © 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Energy company Enron Europe Ltd. (U.ENE) said Wednesday it has extended the deadline for the virtual U.K. natural gas pipeline entry capacity auction on its EnCap system because of the high level of interest. Final bids are due by 1100 GMT Aug. 7, with the first start date for the services unchanged at Oct. 1, the company said. The original deadline had been set for July 9. EnCap enables Enron customers to reduce the risk associated with obtaining entry capacity from the pipeline operator, the company said. Customers can choose instead to supply gas at major U.K. beach terminals to Enron and receive the same quantity at the National Balancing Point, or NBP, the company added. The NBP is a notional point on the pipeline network which is widely referred to in the bulk of U.K. over the counter spot market trades as a delivery point. -By Germana Canzi, Dow Jones Newswires; 44 20 78429283; germana.canzi@dowjones.com JAPAN: Korea Aluminium-Imports seen cheaper than govt stock sales. By Jae Hur 07/04/2001 Reuters English News Service (C) Reuters Limited 2001. TOKYO, July 4 (Reuters) - South Korean demand for spot aluminium is expected to inch up this week as stock sales by the government agency became less attractive after recent declines in London metal prices, traders said on Wednesday. "It might be the first time since the begining of this year that imported aluminium prices appear to be lower than those of the government stock sales," said a trader with a leading trading house in Seoul. This would drive domestic endusers to seek more imported metal held by trading houses rather than metal held by the Supply Administration (SAROK), alleviating domestic aluminium stocks, he said. Aluminium stocks in major South Korean ports, excluding inventories held by SAROK, were estimated at about 40,000 tonnes, against 50,000 tonnes in mid-June, traders said. SAROK said early this week its aluminium selling prices in July would remain unchanged from June at 2,248,000 won ($1,729) per tonne. On Tuesday, traders said SAROK had bought 10,000 tonnes of western primary aluminium ingots late last week from Samsung Corp and Enron Corp . The government procurement body bought 5,000 tonnes from Enron last Thursday at $1,509 a tonne on a cost-insurance-freight (CIF) basis for Pusan and another 5,000 tonnes from Samsung at $1,501.89 a tonne, CIF Inchon, said a trade source. The purchase prices compared to the administration's purchase in late May. SAROK had bought 5,000 tonnes from LG International Corp at $1,582 a tonne, CIF Pusan, and another 5,000 tonnes from Mitsui & Co Ltd at $1,579 a tonne, CIF Inchon, another trade source said. Q3 PREMIUMS AT $45-47/T South Korean aluminium import premiums were settled last week at $45-$47 a tonne over the London Metal Exchange (LME) cash prices, compared with around $65-$66 in the second quarter, the traders said. The fall in third quarter premiums were attributed to heavy domestic stocks, an influx of cheaper metals from China and Russia and soft domestic demand, they said. "Some domestic buyers were said to have settled the third quarter term premiums at about $43-$45 a tonne," said another trading house trader in Seoul. But it was hard to confirm the deals because there were only a few major buyers involved in the term deals with foreign suppliers this time, he said. The buyers were able to get the term premiums because spot premiums had further fallen to about $42-$43 a tonne after Japanese importers and foreign suppliers agreed on the third quarter premiums, he said. In Japan, term premiums for the July-September quarter were settled at around $45 a tonne on a CIF basis over LME cash prices, plunging from the second quarter premiums of $64-$65. That was the lowest level since the first quarter of 1999, when the premiums for the world's second-largest economy were settled at $37-$38 a tonne. Slowing domestic demand and a supply glut has most domestic buyers preferring monthly contracts or spot deals rather than quarterly term deals, traders said. (US$1=1,300 won) ((Jae Hur, Tokyo Commodities Desk +81-3 3432 7431 jae.hur@reuters.com)). Decision on judicial probe on Enron issue by July 11 07/04/2001 Press Trust of India Limited © 2001 PTI Ltd. Mumbai, Jul 4 (PTI) The decision to institute judicial probe into all the aspects of agreement with US energy major Enron would be taken by July 11, Democratic Front (DF) coordination committee convener Prof N D Patil said on Wednesday night. The co-ordination committee which is the policy making body of the eight party coalition met here Wednesday night at official Sahayadri Guest House in Malabar Hill to deliberate over its stance on the controversial Enron -promoted Dabhol Power Company's (DPC) project in coastal Konkan. Briefing reporters in the middle of the meeting, Patil said, "we had good discussion and heard everybody's view point and a final decision would be taken on July 11". Barring Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), all other constituents of the DF are pressing for institution of a judicial inquiry into all the aspects of the agreement signed with Enron. NCP has clarified its stance saying it would support a judicial probe into the matter if the Cabinet unanimously takes a decision in this regard. However, the Congress is yet to make public its position over the demand for a judicial inquiry. The smaller constituents like Peasants' and Workers' Party, Janata Dal-Secular, Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) and Samajwadi Party, have already threatened to withdraw from the government if their demand for a judicial probe was turned down. Meanwhile DPC Wednesday received one week extension from the Mumbai High Court, for the June 26 stay order, which allowed the multinational to move the Supreme Court till July 10. (THROUGH ASIA PULSE) 04-07 2001 DPC receives one week extension over HC's July 10 deadline 07/04/2001 Press Trust of India Limited © 2001 PTI Ltd. Mumbai, Jul 4 (PTI) US energy major Enron-promoted Dabhol Power Company (DPC) has received one week extension from the Mumbai High Court, for the June 26 stay order, which allowed the multinational to move the Supreme Court of India till July 10. +DPC applied for the extension on Monday on the grounds that it had received the court order copy only that very day (July two) and hence prayed for a two-week extension+, state government sources told PTI here Wednesday. They said since a week had already passed from the day of the Court's directive, the HC granted a seven-day extension, to the US energy major beyond July 10. When contacted, state advocate general Goolam Vahanwati confirmed the development and said the state and MSEB had consented for the same. On June 26, Mumbai High Court had dismissed DPC's petition challenging the jurisdiction of Maharashtra electricity regulatory commission (MERC) to adjudicate its dispute with MSEB and also directed the regulator to decide this issue within six weeks. Justice Ajit Shah and Justice Sharad Bobde held that MERC was an expert body and competent enough to decide its own jurisidiction. The judges had stayed the order till July 10 to enable DPC move the Supreme Court in appeal. (THROUGH ASIA PULSE) 04-07 2001 Lenders for splitting DPC assets to cut takeover cost Our Regional Bureau NEW DELHI 07/04/2001 Business Standard 8 Copyright © Business Standard Indian lenders to the Enron-prmoted Dabhol Power Company are looking at the prospects of splitting the assets of the company before sale. While some generation companies, including the US major AES and two others, have approached Indian lenders for taking over the operations of the generation unit, talks have also been initiated for taking over the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal of the DPC separately. "Some companies have sent feelers for taking over the LNG terminal in Ratnagiri," a top executive with an Indian lender told Business Standard. He, however, refused to divulge the companies' names. Indian lenders are, apparently, of the view that splitting the DPC assets will help in reduction of tariffs and the cost of taking over the company, sources say. The assets, include the LNG terminal with a capacity of five million tonne per annum (MTPA). The construction of the terminal is nearly 87 per cent complete. Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) chairman S K Chakraborti had said here yesterday that this route will be considered only if talks with Enron to continue with the project fail to fructify. The DPC was to shift to LNG fuel, instead of naphtha being used at present, from June 2002. The shift to LNG will considerably reduce power generation cost from the project. Of the LNG project's total capacity, about 2.1 MTPA is to be used for electricity generation by the Dabhol Power Company and the remaining 2.9 MTPA is to be sold commercially. But, as the entire cost of the LNG facility has been factored into the PPA for the Dabhol project, this has pushed up the cost of power generation. As LNG is fast emerging as a preferred fuel, due to low cost and easy transferability, there will be a lot of interest in the project, sources said. The Madhav Godbole committee, which recommended renegotiation of tariffs, has said that the Dabhol Power Company should renegotiate its LNG contract and set up a separate facility for LNG fuel, which will help in reduction of costs. As part of the Dabhol Power Company's financial restructuring, the committee has suggested an increase in the maturity profile of its debt from five to 15 years with a five-year moratorium. It has also suggested an indicative interest rate of 12 per cent on rupee loans or six per cent in dollar terms for the project. NEWS Water treatment contract approved MARY FLOOD, RACHEL GRAVES Staff 07/04/2001 Houston Chronicle 3 STAR 35 (Copyright 2001) The Houston City Council approved a $104 million contract for the Northeast Water Purification Plant with Montgomery Watson Constructors of California. The contract for the Lake Houston plant needed council approval but will be between the construction and engineering firm and the Houston Area Water Corp., known as "the Hawk," a citizen board appointed by the mayor. The contract provides 2 1/2 years to build the 40 million-gallon- a-day plant that will treat raw lake water. Montgomery Watson could also be required to construct a plant expansion. The city of Houston is the initial customer for the water and would repay the Hawk the cost of treating the water. The city hopes that the plant will eventually provide water to other area entities as well. This plant is part of an area plan for the treatment of surface water that could cost about $2 billion to implement. Councilmen Bruce Tatro and Chris Bell voted against the agreement after an unsuccessful attempt to delay the vote. Tatro said he objected to the plan to issue debt to build the plant when it would be cheaper in the long run to pay cash for the first three years of the project. Councilman John Castillo disagreed, saying the point in issuing debt is to ensure that today's taxpayers are not paying for tomorrow's water consumption. Bell said the decision about awarding the contract should have been made by council, not the Hawk. The administration of Mayor Lee Brown was believed to have favored Montgomery Watson's chief competitor, Azurix Corp., an arm of local energy giant Enron Corp. Three recommendations from City Hall staff recommended Azurix. Hawk board members said what mattered were Montgomery Watson's lower prices and that Azurix plans to sell Azurix North America, the body that would oversee the plant. But Tuesday, council also unanimously approved a $46 million contract with Azurix North American Operations and Maintenance Inc. to operate the existing Southeast Water Purification Plant for more than five years. That contract underwent the normal bidding process, whereas the Hawk board was designed to avoid the bidding process and allow the citizen-run corporation to make its own value choice among competitors. "About six weeks ago, political pressure began to ease as City Council looked at what work the Hawk board had done," Hawk chairman David Berg said. NEWS Ex-Houston judge to be special counsel / Andell to advise education secretary John WILLIAMS, Houston Chronicle Political Writer Staff 07/04/2001 Houston Chronicle 3 STAR 22 (Copyright 2001) Eric Andell, a former Democratic state appellate judge in Houston who lost his re-election bid last year, has accepted a position as special counsel to U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige. Paige, former Houston school superintendent, announced Tuesday that Andell will provide recommendations and guidance on various legal matters. The appointment in the Bush administration apparently removes the threat that Andell might mount a Democratic bid next year for Harris County judge. Andell said he looks forward to working with Paige. "I have worked with Paige before on (Houston Independent School District) matters and I am excited about the opportunity of working with him again," Andell said. Andell was a juvenile court judge when then-Gov. Ann Richards appointed him to the 1st Court of Appeals in 1993. Known for broad community involvement, Andell has been active in various youth and school issues. He has served as chairman of the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission, chairman of the Aspiring Youth of Houston and as a member of HISD committees. Earlier this year, Andell was mentioned as a possible HISD superintendent when Paige resigned to accept the cabinet appointment. The HISD job eventually went to longtime district administrator Kaye Stripling. Since his defeat for the judgeship, Andell has served as a visiting judge. He also has performed mediation and arbitration work for the Houston law firm Nathan Sommers Lippman Jacobs & Gorman. Andell said Tuesday that Paige asked him several months ago to consider the job. Since then, Andell has received support from a number of prominent local Republicans, including former mayoral candidate Rob Mosbacher, Enron Corp. Chairman Ken Lay and attorney Pat Oxford. "He brings a good background in the education arena that has been gleaned from his experience on the bench and some good sound judgment," said Mosbacher, a member of a Greater Houston Partnership committee that deals with HISD issues. Many Democrats had hoped Andell would seek the county judge position, which has been held by Republicans since 1974. Andell said he had considered making a run if incumbent Robert Eckels did not seek a third term. Eckels is expected to seek re- election. "It was bandied about and when I discussed it openly and honestly, I always said it was if Eckels chose not to run," Andell said. Despite receiving top endorsements and outspending his Republican opponent 10-1 last fall, Andell lost to former assistant county attorney Terry Jennings by a slim margin. Jennings' victory left Margaret C. Mirabel as the only Democrat among the 18 appellate judges in Houston. Andell said he will move to Washington this month, hopes to stay in the new position at least through the end of Bush's first four- year term and has no political aspirations until then. Front Gas rates plunging Dave Mabell 07/04/2001 Lethbridge Herald Metro All material Copyright © Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. It's like a "Going Out of Business" sale. After charging record high rates through the winter, the natural gas company serving southern Alberta homes and businesses is cutting its prices up to 45 per cent. At the same time, Atco Gas continues to look for another company to take over its retail gas business. Approval of the company's request for rate reductions -- from $9.81 per gigajoule to $5.41 for most customers -- was announced Tuesday in Calgary. The rate took effect July 1, and is scheduled to remain in effect until next Jan. 31. Reduced rates reflect softening prices across most of North America for one of Alberta's biggest exports and provincial tax revenue generators. Jerome Engler, the company's executive vice-president, said the dramatic price drop reflects the way the company buys its gas from Alberta producers. Unlike newly arrived competitor Epcor, Atco does not hedge its prices by buying forward contracts. "Customers will quickly get a lower natural gas price because of the methods Atco Gas employs to purchase gas that ensures customers pay the least cost for gas over the long term," said Engler. "The market price for natural gas is sliding down, and we can pass these lower costs on to our customers." Although Alberta politicians blamed this province's cost of electricity -- highest in Canada -- on last winter's soaring natural gas prices, there's so far been no sign homeowners and business people will see any dramatic cuts in those bills. Atco's lower gas price, however, will still be marginally above the $5.35 price offered Lethbridge householders when Epcor began offering term contracts last winter; more recent Epcor offerings have been higher than $8 for a one- or three-year term. But Atco's rate will remain substantially higher than the $3.26 cost of gas in southern Alberta just 18 months ago. In approving the rate reductions, the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board once again ordered lower rates in northern Alberta than in the south: $4.95 vs. $5.40. In a recent board decision that surprised Atco, it denied permission to sell the company's large gasfields near Viking (southeast of Edmonton) which have historically given a price advantage to consumers in the Edmonton area and north. At last winter's record-high prices, the board said Atco's surcharges resulted in accumulated surpluses in both northern and southern Alberta. The company is expected to repay those amounts by Jan. 31, for residential customers who opted not to shoulder the full impact of last winter's price shock. For larger gas customers, using more than 8,000 gigajoules per year, the surcharge -- and now the repayment -- was expected to end this Oct. 31. For Atco, these rate changes could be the last for which the company will apply for permission. While retaining its pipeline network through Alberta, Atco has announced plans to sell its retail gas business to another company. Atco officials said at the end of April they're looking for a "world calibre" company to take over service to homes and businesses across the province. Because Atco has been a long-time supplier, operating under the province's regulatory authorities, they said Atco is "restricted from providing the full range of retail offerings." Company president Craighton Twa said attracting a big-league buyer will bring increased choice for the province's consumers. "The sale will initiate the final stage for the fully deregulated environment envisioned by the Alberta government," he said. One of the leading contenders, Enron Direct, has refused to comment on whether it's negotiating to buy the Atco business. The American company has meanwhile announced plans to begin offering southern Alberta businesses their choice of contract prices for electricity. Engler said Atco is facing further change, whether it sells its retail arm or not. At a separate series of energy board hearings, he said the company was asked to respond to proposals to change how it buys gas -- on the spot market, vs. hedging through contracts -- and how long its prices should run before further review. The board's decisions are expected to apply to Atco's successor, if it sells. "We hope to see a sale completed this summer," Engler said. But whoever the buyer, he adds, Alberta consumers will still be offered a regulated price as an alternative to signing a fixed contract. With Alberta's penchant for deregulation, however, Engler isn't certain how long that option will continue. With the lower prices, he adds, it may take longer before consumers whose bills still show "credit balance," as a result of the provincial government's subsidies, start paying for their gas once again. Consumers who'd rather receive a cheque in the mail instead of debiting their credit balance, Engler said, can call Atco and ask for their refund. Any comments or questions? Contact the writer at dave.mabell@lethbridgeherald.com Fimat USA's Kilduff: Oil Prices, OPEC and Stock Picks 2001-07-04 10:18 (New York) New York, July 4, 2001 (Bloomberg) -- John Kilduff (right), senior vice president of energy risk management at Fimat USA Inc., talks with Bloomberg's Dylan Ratigan about the outlook for oil prices, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and some of his stock picks. 02:13 The outlook for OPEC and oil prices 01:18 Impact of OPEC on profitability of integrated companies 00:35 Picks: Enron, EOG Resources and Anadarko Petroleum For company information see ENE US, EOG US, APC US <Equity< CN, BQ. For related news see the following NI codes: US, ADVISE, NRG, OIL, OPEC, UTI, ELC, GAS, CMD, VENZ, LATAM, REF, ERNLOOK. For more on the Bloomberg Forum see BFM. For more Bloomberg Multimedia reports see AV. -- Bloomberg Multimedia (609) 279-4455 (VV/BH) India Risks Lower Rating If Budget Deficits Grow, S&P Says 2001-07-04 22:55 (New York) India Risks Lower Rating If Budget Deficits Grow, S&P Says New York, July 5 (Bloomberg) -- India must cap its federal and state government budget deficits or risk having its credit rating lowered, a Standard & Poor's analyst said. India's ``BB'' rating, which is two notches below investment grade, may be cut if the combined deficits widen to more than 10 percent of gross domestic product from 9 percent now, Joydeep Mukherji, S&P's associate director and India analyst, said in an interview. ``We continue to watch the fiscal problem very closely as that is the most vulnerable area that could lead to a negative rating action,'' Mukherji said. The warning comes as the government plans to increase spending to bolster a slowing economy. A lower rating would raise the cost of borrowing for the government and Indian companies, already among the highest in Asia. India's benchmark 10-year bond yield is 9.6 percent, higher than 6.5 percent for comparable Chinese bonds and 6.8 percent for South Korean bonds -- which both have an investment grade rating. S&P lowered the outlook on India's rating to ``stable'' from ``positive'' in October. The agency cited India's failure to meet deadlines for sales of state-owned companies. The rating is among the lowest in the region. Last week, an analyst for Moody's Investors Service said India must step up sales of state assets and trim its budget deficit to avoid a reduction in the outlook on its debt. Moody's ``Ba2'' rating, also two notches below investment grade, has a ``positive'' outlook, meaning it may be raised. Growing Debt Fitch cut India'
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