Chevron will buy natural gas producer Atlas Energy Inc., marking the major oil company’s first foray into the rich gas fields in the eastern part of the U.S. Chevron will pay with both cash and stock, the companies said Tuesday. Including debt of about $1.1 billion, the deal is worth $4.3 billion.
Filed under: Energy
Visit our Filed page for categories. To browse by specific topic, see our Inside page. For a list of companies covered on this site, visit our Companies page.
Study: Wind means jobs for Illinois
For every megawatt of wind power developed in Illinois, 17 manufacturing jobs are created, according to a new study by the Environmental Law & Policy Center in Chicago.
The study, which identified more than 100 Illinois companies that are in the wind industry supply chain, did not identify how many the jobs created are in Illinois, but found that Illinois is fast becoming a hub for the nation’s wind power. Get the full story »
IEA: More need to be done to prevent oil price spike
Governments need to do more to increase efficiency and boost green technologies to avoid a spike in oil prices as energy demand is expected to jump 36 percent through 2035, the International Energy Agency warned Tuesday.
In its annual World Energy Outlook released, the Paris-based IEA said emerging nations like China will account for most of the surge in demand and that much will depend on the strength of the economic recovery over the next few years. Get the full story »
ICC wants to cut ComEd rate hike by 80%
From Crain’s Chicago Business | Illinois’ utility regulator has recommend that Commonwealth Edison Co. get a small fraction of the $400 million rate hike it requested. The Illinois Commerce Commission staff recommended a rate increase of $78 million, or roughly 7 percent on the average month residential electric bill. Get the full story>>
BP gains, with traders citing Exxon bid talk
Shares in BP gained on Friday, with traders citing talk that Exxon Mobil was considering a bid for the oil company.
By 10:29 a.m. EDT, BP shares were up 1.1 percent at 450 pence, having hit an intraday high of 451.35 pence on the rumor. Get the full story »
Power back on in Loop office buildings after fire
An electrical fire in a Commonwealth Edison vault shut down power to two office buildings for almost four hours.
Power was restored to the building at 150 North Wacker Drive at 8:18 a.m., and several minutes later to 110 North Wacker, but not before employers sent some workers home. Get the full story >>
Exelon considers bid for troubled nuclear plant
Power utility Entergy Corp. said it was exploring the sale of its 605-megawatt nuclear plant in Vermont, months after the state Senate voted to shut it in 2012 due to pollution issues.
Vermont politics could, however, complicate any potential sale. Earlier this year, the state Senate voted overwhelmingly to shut the reactor and the person heading that effort is now the unofficial Governor-elect Peter Shumlin, a Democrat.
Analyst Brian Chin said the likely bidders could include other nuclear operators like Exelon Corp., NextEra Energy Inc. and Constellation Energy Group Inc. Get the full story »
Fed easing to be felt at the gas pumps
There’s one place holiday shoppers probably won’t find a bargain this year: At the gas pump.
There is plenty of oil and gasoline on hand, and pump prices usually fall this time of year. So what’s causing the run-up? Most analysts point to the Federal Reserve’s $600 billion economic stimulus effort. Get the full story »
Toxic chemicals found deep at oil spill site
Toxic chemicals at levels high enough to kill sea animals extended deep underwater soon after the BP oil spill, U.S. researchers reported Tuesday.
They found evidence of the chemicals as deep as 3,300 feet
and as far away as 8 miles in May, and said the spread likely worsened as more oil spilled. Get the full story »
ICE details staff cuts at Chicago Climate Exchange
Intercontinental Exchange Inc. is shedding some 40 employees from its U.S. environment bourse Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) by the end of the year, with further cuts in 2011, ICE’s chief financial officer said. “We had about 66 people when we bought the company. I think we’ll be closer to 25 by the end of the year. And then we’ll reduce further into the first quarter,” Scott Hill told a conference call following a company earnings update this week.
The futures exchange group reported a stronger-than-expected 15 percent rise in quarterly profit on Monday.
Industry sources told Reuters in August that ICE had started to make layoffs at CCX in July due to the lack of U.S. action on climate change. Get the full story »
Nicor profit flat, misses on tropical shipping decline
Nicor Inc.’s third-quarter earnings were flat as stronger results at the natural-gas company’s distribution business were offset by a decline at its shipping segment. Profit missed analysts’ expectations and Nicor cut its 2010 target to $3 to $3.10 a share from $3.10 to $3.30, mainly owing to lower-than-expected earnings at its shipping business. Get the full story »
BP returns to profit despite $7.7B charge in 3Q
BP PLC raised the likely cost of the devastating Gulf of Mexico oil spill by $7.7 billion Tuesday, dragging down its third quarter net profit by more than 60 percent despite higher oil and gas prices. In an earnings update, the London-based company said it returned to profit for the first time since the April spill, though net income of $1.79 billion was still well below a year-earlier profit of $5.3 billion because of the extra charge.
Judge releases Halliburton cement to investigators
A New Orleans federal judge overseeing litigation on the Deepwater Horizon drilling disaster signed an order to release materials Halliburton used in the cementing job on BP’s blown-out Macondo well to federal investigators. Get the full story »
First Wind buries its plans for IPO
From The New York Times | The wind farm developer First Wind has shelved its plans for an initial public offering after cutting its offering price by nearly 25 percent.
