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US Physical Gas Prices Lower For First-Of-Month Oct
09/28/2001 Dow Jones Energy Service EOTT Energy Registers 2M Sub Units For Hldr Koch Pete 09/28/2001 Dow Jones Corporate Filings Alert Risk On Rival Pipeline May Help Canada Natural Gas Line 09/28/2001 Dow Jones Energy Service Extremists target European gas pipelines ; Algerian threat 09/30/2001 The Independent - London Depressed natural gas prices could hamper all Arctic gas development 09/28/2001 The Canadian Press INDIA: Panel suggests Indian govt pay in Enron row-paper. 10/01/2001 Reuters English News Service USA: FEATURE-Women rise to power in deregulated energy industry. 09/30/2001 Reuters English News Service Alaska Producers Say Gas Pipeline Would Be Too Expensive 10/01/2001 NGI's Daily Gas Price Index Azurix Abandons Argentine Concession 10/01/2001 The Wall Street Journal INDIA: Tata Power said in talks to buy India Enron stake. 10/01/2001 Reuters English News Service Cong, NCP differ over Enron probe panel issue 10/01/2001 The Times of India _________________________________________________ **Please note there is an article pertaining to gas prices, as well as one discussing the future of the gas market, on the front page of today's issue of Gas Daily. There is also an article on pipeline stock stability in this week's edition of Inside FERC. We regret that we cannot copy and send these to you due to copyright laws. US Physical Gas Prices Lower For First-Of-Month Oct 09/28/2001 Dow Jones Energy Service (Copyright © 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) HOUSTON -(Dow Jones)- U.S. natural gas physical prices Friday fell considerably for the first day of October, as traders saw wide ranges and light demand. "Everything cratered," said a Texas trader. Anticipated first-of-month indexes for October are around 50 cents to 90 cents below September's indexes at the pipelines, depending on location, according to traders. Marketers Friday traded for the first day of October and saw spreads widen considerably between cash and futures bidding. Looking ahead, traders expect to see some incremental demand next month, as some utilities switch to natural gas from fuel oil and a number of nuclear energy sites go off-line for maintenance, one veteran trader said. October, a shoulder month, tends to be a major price discount month, a trader said. Presently on the Nymex, there is a 50-plus-cent difference between October cash and November futures. The 12-month strip widened to 86 cents. The Nymex November natural gas futures contract settled Friday at $2.244 a million British thermal units, down 0.9 of a cent. October expired Wednesday at $1.83/MMBtu, in the vicinity of 30-month lows. At the benchmark Henry Hub in south Louisiana, the delivery point for Nymex gas, prices fell 11 cents on the bid, but rose 1 cent on the offer to a $1.72-$1.92/MMBtu closing range. First-of-month October index prices for the Henry Hub are predicted to be around $1.85-$1.86/MMBtu, traders said. September index for the Henry Hub is around $2.34/MMBtu. Deals at Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Station No. 65 were done at $1.80-$1.92/MMBtu, down 24 cents. At the Arizona-California Border, where gas from El Paso's pipeline begins delivery to Southern California, buyers paid $1.82-$1.90/MMBtu, up 6 cents to 7 cents. Anticipated index for October is seen at $1.78-$1.80/MMBtu. Index for September is at $2.66/MMBtu. At PG&E Citygate, traders paid $1.83-$1.95/MMBtu, up 10 cents to 12 cents. October index is expected around $1.83/MMBtu. September first-of-month index is at $2.71/MMBtu. At the Katy hub in East Texas, prices were in a $1.73-$1.83/MMBtu range, down 5 cents to 9 cents. Anticipated first-of-month October index is $1.82-$1.84/MMBtu, compared with September index of $2.37/MMBtu. At Waha in West Texas, buyers paid $1.60-$1.68/MMBtu, down 5 cents. October first-of-month index is anticipated around $1.71/MMBtu, compared with $2.32/MMBtu for September, traders said. -By John Edmiston, Dow Jones Newswires; 713-547-9209; john.edmiston@dowjones.com EOTT Energy Registers 2M Sub Units For Hldr Koch Pete 09/28/2001 Dow Jones Corporate Filings Alert (Copyright © 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- EOTT Energy Partners L.P. (EOT) registered 2 million of its subordinated units for its holder Koch Petroleum Group L.P. for conversion into 900,000 common units in the company and an option to buy another 1.1 million common units. According to a filing Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the registration is part of a recapitalization agreement that the company, Koch and Enron Corp. (ENE) signed Sept. 6, which still must be approved by the company's unitholders. Under the registration, Koch may sell all 2 million subordinated units prior to approval of the proposed amendment to the company's partnership agreement or if the amendment isn't approved. As reported, Enron and Koch Petroleum have agreed to convert all 9 million of their outstanding EOTT Energy subordinated units and $9.2 million of additional partnership interests into about 4.3 million common units. The company said the shift in capital structure will allow the company to increase cash distributions to $1.95 a unit from $1.90. Houston-based EOTT Energy is an energy company that gathers and markets crude oil and refined products in North America. -Joanne McPike, Dow Jones Corporate Filings Alert; 202-628-7669; joanne.mcpike@dowjones.com Risk On Rival Pipeline May Help Canada Natural Gas Line By Dina O'Meara 09/28/2001 Dow Jones Energy Service (Copyright © 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) CALGARY -(Dow Jones)- Development of Canadian Arctic natural gas gained points this week after producers in Alaska announced their competing pipeline projects could be too risky to pursue. But analysts - and producers - caution that the temporary retreat by ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM), BP PLC (BP T.BP U.BP) and Phillips Petroleum (P T.PLP) from the "very high-risk" project doesn't change fundamental issues challenging the Canadian side of the Arctic fence. "If an Alaskan pipeline doesn't go, there would be potential benefits for a Canadian line simply because huge volumes of Alaska gas - four billion cubic feet a day - won't hit the market," Calgary analyst Ed Small acknowledged Friday. But he added: "I just don't know if that's enough to make the Mackenzie Delta pipeline happen." Industry estimates natural gas has to sell for at least US$3 a million British thermal units to make a northern pipeline economically feasible. And natural gas prices that tanked from US$10/MMBtu in December to US$2.24/MMBtu this week haven't given encouraging signals to an increasingly tentative market. However, the fact that a growing demand for natural gas isn't projected to abate and immense untapped resources await in the north serve as favorable factors. "The advantage the Mackenzie Delta pipeline has is it's smaller in incremental volumes (than Alaska) and in capital costs," said Paul Mortensen, from the Calgary-based Canadian Energy Research Institute. The overland route from the Delta, at the western tip of the Northwest Territories, through Alberta and into the U.S. is being considered by several producer groups, the largest one formed by Imperial Oil Ltd. (IMO T.IMO), Shell Canada Ltd. (T.HSC), ExxonMobil Canada (X.XOC) and Conoco Canada Resources Ltd. (COCA COCB), formerly Gulf Canada Resources Ltd. A Mackenzie Valley pipeline would ship between 700 million cubic feet of gas a day to 1.5 billion cubic feet of gas a day to the U.S. for several million dollars less than either proposed Alaska routes, analysts say. Capital Costs Massive The Imperial consortium hasn't released any cost estimates, however, the Alaska group's preliminary figures pin huge capital costs on both their proposed Arctic lines: US$15.1 billion to run Alaska gas through Prudhoe Bay down the Northwest Territories or US$17.2 billion along the Alaska Highway through the Yukon. "Right here, now, today, neither route is economic," said ExxonMobil's Robert Shilhab, adding that the project hasn't been shelved. Tolls to ship the Arctic gas down to the continental U.S. were estimated at an eyebrow-raising US$2.03-US$2.39/MMBtu - about 10 U.S. cents higher than month-ahead contracts selling Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Imperial Oil spokesman Hart Searle said the Mackenzie consortium wasn't so dependent on current pricing as it is on projections for when the pipeline would start flowing volumes - around 2008. They are still optimistic prices will rebound, but realize the massive project carries a certain amount of risk. "Typically, investments that open new regions and new basins are not as economically robust as those that come after it," Searle said. The consortium still hopes to file a preliminary application for the pipeline by the end of this year, he said. Completing regulatory reviews are expected to take up to four years, with another two to four years required on the physical construction. -By Dina O'Meara, Dow Jones Newswires; 403-531-2912; dina.omeara@dowjones.com Extremists target European gas pipelines ; Algerian threat ELIZABETH NASH in Madrid 09/30/2001 The Independent - London FOREIGN Page 2 (Copyright 2001 Independent Newspapers (UK) Limited) Algerian Islamists linked to Osama bin Laden have threatened to declare war on British and other "vital Western interests" by blowing up oil and gas pipelines that run from North Africa to Europe. The threat follows the arrest last week in Spain of six members of Algeria's extremist Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (SGPC), after an MI6 tip-off, for their role in a plot to blow up the US embassy in Paris. The message sent to the Algerian media named France, Germany, Britain and Belgium as the "European countries that persecute Islamists and cooperate with the US in their struggle against Bin Laden". It was issued by Hassen Hatab, who attended a recent meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with associates of Mr bin Laden. The CIA filmed one of the hijackers who was on the plane that hit the Pentagon at the same meeting. The Salafistas, a dissident breakaway from the Armed Islamic Group - backed by Mr Bin Laden's Al-Qa'edah organisation - appear on a US blacklist of groups suspected of taking part in the 11 September attack. A suicide strike at any point of the vast transcontinental pipeline would choke off a lifeline that fuels the economies of Spain, Portugal, Italy and France. Spain has sharply increased its dependence on Algerian natural gas in recent years. Britain would also feel the impact of such a terrorist attack. Although the UK is still an exporter of gas from the North Sea, it is expected to become a net importer within the next few years. The organisation said it intended to attack the pipelines carrying liquid gas from Algeria to Spain via Morocco and to Italy via Tunisia, alongside Algeria's giant refineries on the Mediterranean ports of Arzew and Skikda. The six Algerians arrested this week in Madrid were accused of planning to launch suicide attacks on US targets in Europe. Spain is increasingly worried that the Algerian pipeline, which enters Spain at Tarifa, near Gibraltar, may become one of the next big terrorist targets. Originating in Algeria's central Hassid Messaud region, it has suddenly become a strategic flashpoint. In the 10 years since Algeria's armed Islamic opposition has been active, they have barely targeted oil and gas installations, tacitly sharing the government's view that crucial emblems of national prosperity were untouchable. But observers believe this truce will not hold if Washington launches an assault on Afghanistan. Spain says that in the event of an attack, it would import liquefied natural gas in special tankers from Russia. And Brussels has been pondering for months how to guarantee the EU's expanding energy needs if oil imports are disrupted. Sources in Spain's oil sector reckon Algeria's armed forces and intelligence services are on sufficiently high alert to keep the oil and gas flow secure, as it provides the bulk of the country's foreign currency earnings. Depressed natural gas prices could hamper all Arctic gas development BY JAMES STEVENSON 09/28/2001 The Canadian Press Copyright © 2001 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved. CALGARY (CP) _ The same low natural gas prices that suggest it's not economical to build a U.S.-based pipeline accessing Alaska's large gas reserves could cause problems for a Canadian line tapping gas in the Northwest Territories. ``There's no doubt that northern gas is expensive,'' Duncan Robertson, managing partner of energy analysts SBM Inc., said Friday. ``So the economics have to be pretty rigorous to pursue any significant amount of activity _ whether that's drilling, or facilities construction or transportation.'' Robertson said he believes at least one northern gas pipeline will eventually be built to access the large reserves on Alaska's North Slope and the N.W.T.'s Mackenzie Delta, but exactly when remains unclear because of slumping gas prices. ``I don't believe this will eliminate northern gas pipelines, but I do believe that the current commodity price trends _ which are downward _ have the potential to delay progress start-up on these pipelines.'' On Thursday, several global oil giants looking at building a pipeline out of Alaska said a preliminary analysis showed the project would be too pricey. ``At this point, neither of the two routes we're considering are economic, but we're working hard to reduce costs,'' said Dave MacDowell, spokesman for the Alaska Gas Producers Pipeline Team which represents industry heavyweights Exxon/Mobil, BP and Phillips Petroleum. MacDowell denied reports that the producers were shelving all pipeline plans. ``Bottom line is we're peddling as fast as we can.'' Although the decision to build a pipeline eventually rests with the energy producers, the whole debate has been steeped in fierce politics _ including Canadian and U.S. leaders, territorial heads and First Nations groups. That's because a pipeline connecting Arctic natural gas to American markets would be a massive project worth billions of dollars to the jurisdictions it passes through. The preliminary study shows an Alaskan pipeline route would cost at least $15-billion US. Talk of building gas pipelines from both Alaska and the N.W.T. heated up substantially at the start of the year when gas prices were hitting record highs of more than $10 US per thousand cubic feet. But a slumping economy _ left reeling after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States _ and unprecedented natural gas supply has sent prices plummeting to one-fifth of their January highs. Prices continued to hover below $2 per thousand cubic feet this week. And predictions of another warm winter, combined with warnings of an impending recession, do not bode well for future prices. In their preliminary analysis, the Alaskan producers say a pipeline would yield a return on investment of 10 to 11 per cent, instead of the desired 15 per cent. A separate group of energy producers is also studying the feasibility of accessing gas reserves in the Mackenzie Delta. Hart Searle of Imperial Oil said this group still hopes to have a decision before the end of the year on whether it will proceed with plans to seek regulatory approval on a pipeline. ``The producer group watches what goes on in the commodity markets and yes, we've seen a pretty steep decline in natural gas prices,'' says Searle. ``But as we look at the economics for potential development like a Mackenzie Valley pipeline, the economics aren't dependent on today's prices but what prices will be in the longer term, i.e. in the next 10, 20 to 30 years.'' And while the group has not officially released a cost estimate of a pipeline direct south from N.W.T. to the existing network in Alberta, Searle says Imperial ``hasn't taken exception'' to estimates of between $3 billion and $4 billion, which would be vastly cheaper than the Alaskan pipeline route. ``That puts a different face on your economics,'' he said. Other analysts say warnings from the Alaskan producers that they might not go ahead with their pipeline was a political cry-for-help to the U.S. government, which has been keen to increase domestic energy supplies. TransCanada Pipelines, one of Canada's biggest shippers of natural gas with possible involvement in both the Alaskan and Mackenzie Delta lines, is also remaining positive that development will proceed. ``TransCanada still believes that two northern pipeline systems, independent from each other and serving the needs of each individual basin will increase the flexibility for natural gas producers and provide the highest overall value for stakeholders,'' said spokesman Glenn Herchak. INDIA: Panel suggests Indian govt pay in Enron row-paper. 10/01/2001 Reuters English News Service (C) Reuters Limited 2001. BOMBAY, Oct 1 (Reuters) - An Indian panel has suggested the federal government be willing to spend almost 57 billion rupees ($1.19 billion) to help resurrect the Enron Corp Dabhol power project, which stopped producing electricity more than three months ago, a business daily said on Monday. The panel was constituted in early 2001 to review all aspects of the controversial power project, set up at a cost of $2.9 billion on the west coast of India. The Business Standard daily said the panel's report had suggested Dabhol's various stakeholders all be willing to absorb the costs that would have to be incurred to revive the 2,184 MW gas-based project. Dabhol Power Company is 65 percent owned by Enron Corp . GE and Bechtel own 10 percent each, while the Maharashtra State Electricity Board, a local state-owned power utility, owns the remaining 15 percent. The western state of Maharashtra is a guarantor to the Dabhol project and the federal government is its counter-guarantor. U.S.-based Enron has said it wants to exit the project after a bitter dispute with the local utility, which had initially contracted to purchase all the power from Dabhol Power Company's plant. It subsequently defaulted on payments, saying it didn't need that much power, which it claimed was too expensive in any case. Enron claimed the utility was reneging on its contractual obligations. Dabhol finally took the utility to the International Court of Arbitration in London, warning India faces liabilities worth $5 billion. But Enron has simultaneously said it is willing to settle out of court if it can recover its costs. While there have been many suggestions, the panel's report is among the few to provide a detailed solution, including the liability each party would have to shoulder. A SOLUTION The panel was set up by the Maharashtra government. Its main brief was to suggest ways of reworking the power purchase agreement so as to reduce Dabhol's tariff. After the dispute worsened, the panel was also asked to suggest revival measures. The panel proposed that if all the stakeholders were willing to absorb the specified losses, the tariff on Dabhol's power could be reduced to between 2.25 and 2.4 rupees per kilowatt-hour from 3.65 to 3.91 rupees at 90 percent capacity utilisation, the newspaper reported. According to the panel's report, the federal government's liability of 56.63 billion rupees included an infusion of 25 billion in cash, waiving customs duties on the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and cutting import duties on capital goods, the report said. It said the panel has also suggested Enron, GE and Bechtel together absorb a loss of 28.35 billion rupees on their investment in the project. ($1=47.93 rupees). USA: FEATURE-Women rise to power in deregulated energy industry. By Carolyn Koo 09/30/2001 Reuters English News Service (C) Reuters Limited 2001. NEW YORK, Sept 30 (Reuters) - The phrase "women in power" has new meaning now, given the changes in the utility industry. The standard-issue utility executive has invariably been male: He had an engineering background, all the better to deal with the capital-intensive business of power plants, and he craved stability in an industry that eschewed risk, relying on regulators to decree how much he could charge customers for power. But changes wrought by deregulation have turned that profile on its head. The way is now open for women - often without engineering degrees and often with a large appetite for risk - to reach the highest echelons of the industry. "When I left Wall Street in '95, most of my peers and colleagues looked at me like I had blown a gasket. It's like, 'What are you thinking about?'" said V.J. (Verna-Jean) Horgan, president of the energy trading unit of Dallas-based TXU Corp. "Since then, there have been innumerable people from Wall Street who have made the transition to utilities." Few women have made it to the top. For the most part, they entered the industry as it approached deregulation in the mid-1990s. But freeing parts of the industry from the grip of government regulation has dramatically altered its landscape, opened new lines of business and attracted people with diverse experiences. USING NEW SKILLS Joan Freilich, chief financial officer of Consolidated Edison Inc., said utilities have a strong engineering orientation and since much work requires physical power, there have been few women. Seeking a challenge, she joined the New York-based utility long before deregulation, in 1978. "I think that up until very recently this has been an industry that hasn't had tremendous change. It's been a very stable industry," said Ruth Ann Gillis, the first female chief financial officer of Chicago-based Exelon Corp.. Recruited by Leo Mullin - then vice chairman of Exelon's predecessor companies Unicom Corp. and Commonwealth Edison and now chairman and chief executive of Delta Air Lines - Gillis joined the power industry from the health industry in 1997 when Illinois was entering the throes of deregulation. Deregulation permitted power companies to branch out into competitive businesses, such as the trading and marketing of power, which required new skills that utility executives generally didn't have. Horgan is an example of an executive with those new skills. After working for both Bankers Trust and Merrill Lynch, she joined Consolidated Natural Gas, now part of Dominion Resources, six years ago from Wall Street. "My initial transition into the utility industry was in 1995 and that in large part was driven by the ability to apply a lot of the same skills that one applies in a Wall Street environment: deal structuring, strong commercial bent, capital, and commodity coming together," she said. Other women came from the technical side. Marce Fuller, president and chief executive of Atlanta-based Mirant Corp., had engineering degrees from the University of Alabama and New York's Union College, and then moved into corporate finance. "That was at a time when a lot of other people were saying, 'I can't believe you're going to do this'," she said. "I didn't have any training, but I wanted to learn that part of the business and felt very strongly about making that move and it was absolutely the right thing for me to do." MORE DIVERSITY EXPECTED Women executives said as management becomes more accepting, more women will follow in their footsteps. It helps that most utilities have at least one female director, though few have more than one, according to executive recruiter Spencer Stuart's Utility Board Index study for 2000. Currently, 92 percent of utilities included in the study have at least one female board member, about normal for companies that make up the top 500 publicly traded firms. Con Ed bucks the trend with four women, including Freilich, on a board of 12 directors. And for all the men who hold positions of power, the industry seems to suffer from little sexual discrimination, on an official basis anyway. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said there were 25,194 sex-based charges, including sexual harassment, filed across all industries in fiscal year 2000. The utility sector comprised less than 1 percent of that total. "One of the reasons we don't have more diversity is that people are most comfortable with people like themselves," said Freilich. "When I first came to Con Ed, men were managers." But that is slowly changing. "Over time when the opportunities in utilities ... are better understood, you're going to see, by definition, more women, more African-Americans, more Hispanic-Americans, Asian-Americans who will be recruited to be part of the leadership of the companies that today may not be as diverse," Gillis said. Many of these women are doing what they can to help their female colleagues. That impulse may stem partly from the legacy of support of the all-women's college, which Freilich (Barnard College), Gillis (Smith College), and Horgan (Wellesley College) all attended. Fuller is proud of the number of women in charge of various business units at the Atlanta-based company. "It is true to say that every one of them have been put in these positions since I got this job." NGI's Daily Gas Price Index published : October 1, 2001 Alaska Producers Say Gas Pipeline Would Be Too Expensive A natural gas pipeline to the Lower 48 states from Alaska would be too expensive to build and too risky, according to a preliminary study by Exxon Mobil Corp., Phillips Petroleum Co. and BP Plc, the three largest lease holders along the North Slope. The producers told Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles' natural gas development team at a meeting last week in Anchorage that the project looks like a long shot at best. The proposed pipeline would yield a rate of return on investment of about 10-11%, far less than the 15% sought by the producers. Neither the Alaska Highway route nor the Mackenzie Delta route would provide attractive enough returns to justify the enormous up-front costs associated with such a massive construction project, according to preliminary analysis by the producers. The Alaska Highway Route, which is favored by state legislators because it would bring in more tax dollars, provide in-state jobs and have less environmental impact would cost about $17.2 billion. The significantly shorter route under the Beaufort Sea and south through Canada's McKenzie River valley would cost about $15.1 billion, the companies said, according to the report. Exxon, Phillips and BP are still examining their findings but clearly consider the project a long shot. Nevertheless, they are still willing to examine potential cost cutting measures, such as reducing construction costs and streamlining the permitting process to avoid delays. "Despite how some of the press are portraying it -- that the producers have scrapped the idea (the Canadian press was writing the obituary on the Alaska highway gas line yesterday) -- reports of its demise are greatly exaggerated, to borrow a phrase," said Knowles spokesman Bob King. "Actually I think there is some good news in what they said. They talked about the project not meeting their goal of a 15% rate of return, but they did say it was profitable. In fact, they said it would provide a 10-11% rate of return. I think that portends well for the project. "There's still a challenge and there are issues to be dealt with to make this project more economic," King added. "There are some steps the state can take to address some of the risk, but I think the fact that their projection that the gas line is profitable bodes well for the project. They didn't say this project is over. There still is a tremendous resource that is there. There's still a tremendous national need." The governor is going to be in Washington, DC, this week to testify Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing. "He'll talk about his proposals, which include some financial incentives in terms of investment tax credits and the like in order to help make this project economically viable," King said. "He's also mentioned accelerated depreciation and also some potential tax credits if gas prices turn south." King noted the governor and the Alaska legislature are still vehemently opposed to the Mackenzie Delta route. Alaska has passed a law essentially blocking that route. "The governor has always supported the Alaska Highway route. He thinks the over-the-top route is a nonstarter. There are too many logistical and environmental concerns that I don't think can ever be resolved in order for it to happen. There is a lot of opposition within the state from the Eskimos who depend on the Beaufort Sea for subsistence whale hunting. They've made it very clear that they would strongly challenge any such project even though this is a group that is very supportive of responsible development on the Slope. They want to make sure it's done in an acceptable manner, one that doesn't threaten their traditional lifestyles." Another main criteria is making sure that Alaskans have access to the gas itself, King added. The over-the-top route would bypass the Alaska market entirely. "That's clearly not acceptable." World Watch Compiled by Lily H. Li 10/01/2001 The Wall Street Journal A12 (Copyright © 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) Azurix Abandons Argentine Concession Azurix, a unit of Houston-based Enron, has decided to abandon its $440 million, 30-year concession to operate drinking- and waste-water services in Buenos Aires province and is trying to recover all investments made there in the past 26 months, a company spokesman said. In addition, Enron and Azurix will seek "some level of damages in addition to the money we've spent," said John Ambler, Enron's spokesman for its Latin American operations. On Sept. 19, the company filed a claim with the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes in Switzerland against the Republic of Argentina to make sure "that all of our rights are protected," he said. INDIA: Tata Power said in talks to buy India Enron stake. 10/01/2001 Reuters English News Service (C) Reuters Limited 2001. BOMBAY, Oct 1 (Reuters) - India's largest private utility, Tata Power Company, is in preliminary talks with Enron Corp to buy the U.S. giant's stake in the troubled $2.9 billion Dabhol Power unit, Indian media reported. The Economic Times said in a weekend report that Tata Power , a unit of India's second-largest conglomerate, would start final negotiations with Enron after the consultants it had appointed to value the project submitted a report. It said JM Financial and Ernst & Young had been appointed to carry out a due diligence exercise. The paper quoted Tata Power Managing Director Adi Engineer as saying his company would "demand Enron scale down the (selling) price" to make it viable to buy the stake. Engineer was not immediately available for comment. The Financial Express said in an unsourced report on Saturday that Tata Power and Enron were close to an agreement on the stake deal. Indian financial institutions and banks, which have lent around $1.4 billion to the project, are coordinating efforts to find a buyer for Enron's stake. "Our search for a viable partner is on," a source from a domestic lender told Reuters. He said Tata Power officials met P.P.Vora, chairman of state-run Industrial Development Bank of India - the biggest lender to the project - and Enron officials last Thursday to start negotiations. Enron has a 65 percent stake in the embattled project, Indian state utility Maharashtra State Electricity Board owns 15 percent and General Electric Co and Bechtel Corp. each own 10 percent. Dabhol has faced problems ever since it was forced to shut its 740 MW plant on the west coast of India in June after its sole customer, a local state utility, stopped buying power. It had also defaulted on earlier payments. The shutdown has stalled an expansion programme, which was almost complete, that would have raised the capacity to 2,184 MW. Tata Power shares were down 1.5 percent at 98.80 rupees while the Bombay benchmark index was down 0.65 percent in morning trade. Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Cong, NCP differ over Enron probe panel issue Prakash Joshi 10/01/2001 The Times of India Copyright (C) 2001 The Times of India; Source: World Reporter (TM) MUMBAI: The delicate relationship between the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party has been stretched to a breaking point following differences over the appointment of a retired Supreme Court judge to head the panel to probe into the Enron issue. According to sources, the state government has completed necessary paper work after the state cabinet decided in principle to go for a judicial commission. The NCP leadership is upset about the speed with which the commission is being constituted by the state administration. The NCP wanted to go slow with the idea. On Friday, chief minister Deshmukh held a closed door meeting to decide on two issues whether to defer the constitution of the judicial panel and the NCP criticism on the chana dal and other issues aired after the Baramati conclave was convened by the party last week. Though Deshmukh was not available, Congress sources confirmed that the cabinet was unanimous over immediate constitution of the commission. "If the government is seen as buckling under the NCP's pressure and delaying the judicial probe, then it will send a wrong signal to people, a senior Congress minister observed Saturday, adding, "We will not do anything to stop the process in midway". The NCP leadership, too, is under pressures from other constituents of the Democratic Front ruling the state, especially the Peasants and Workers Party and the Janata Dal (Secular), on the issue. At one stage, the senior PWP minister Ganpatrao Deshmukh had even threatened to resign from the cabinet if the probe was delayed, and Chhagan Bhujbal, deputy chief minister, had to agree with the cabinet committee on the proposal for the commission. The hawks in the NCP wanted the party oppose the move, but the moderates noted that any opposition to the probe would give the impression to the masses that the NCP had something to hide. The NCP has been arguing since the Prime Minister himself was trying to sort out the differences with Enron, the state cabinet should not hurry up with appointment of the judicial commission and, thereby, close doors for negotiations. Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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