Following is a summary of top stories in the energy sector Thursday afternoon.
Crude Shoots Over $140
Oil futures shot above $140 after OPEC's president said oil prices could rise well above $150 a barrel this year and Libya said it may cut oil production.
Light, sweet crude for August delivery rose as high as $140.39 in afternoon trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange before retreating slightly to settle at $139.64, up $5.09 a barrel.
Gasoline futures rose as well, adding 11.72 cents at $3.5113 per gallon. Heating oil contracts added 33.42 cents to settle at $3.8834 a gallon.
Natural Gas Supplies Rise
The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that natural-gas inventories held in underground storage in the lower 48 states rose by 90 billion cubic feet to over 2.03 trillion cubic feet for the week ending June 20.
The inventory level was slightly below the five-year average of 2.09 trillion cubic feet, and well below last year's storage level of about 2.42 trillion cubic feet, according to the government data.
Natural gas for July delivery rose 35.2 cents to settle at $13.105 per 1,000 cubic feet on the Nymex.
Congress Mulls More Disclosure of Foreign Payments
A House panel is considering legislation that would require public oil, gas and mining companies to disclose payments to foreign governments.
The bill is authored by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. He maintains it would benefit shareholders by letting them better assess risks and compare payments among countries and companies.
U.S. companies pay billions of dollars a year to foreign governments for rights to extract oil, natural gas, coal, copper, diamonds and other resources. Frank said transparency in those payments helps foster a better investment climate and a more stable supply of commodities, while undisclosed payments could be perceived as corruption.
High Court Rules Against Utilities
The Supreme Court made it difficult for utility companies to successfully challenge costly, long-term energy supply contracts negotiated during the West Coast energy crisis seven years ago.
The justices said in a 5-2 decision that the contracts must be presumed to be just and reasonable, absent serious harm to the public interest.
Writing for the majority, Justice Antonin Scalia nonetheless ruled in favor of the utilities on one point, saying the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission must provide a more complete explanation of why it upheld the agreements.
BPZ in Talks with Shell About Peru Venture
Shares of BPZ Resources Inc. soared after the oil and gas exploration and production company said it is in talks with a unit of Royal Dutch Shell PLC about jointly developing Peru properties.
The companies agreed to negotiate terms of a so-called farmout agreement whereby Shell may earn a stake in three northwestern Peru properties that are believed to hold significant crude oil and natural gas reserves.
The memorandum envisions a joint venture in which Shell pays BPZ, collects seismic data on the parts of the properties, or blocks, and drills wells. A spokesman for BPZ said some of the properties are off Peru's coast.
Compton Petroleum Selling 4 Properties
Canadian natural gas and oil producer Compton Petroleum Corp. will sell four energy-producing properties for a total of $218 million.
The Calgary-based company did not name the buyers for the sites, which produce the combined equivalent of 3,700 barrels of oil per day. More than half of the production _ 14.3 million cubic feet a day _ is natural gas.
The largest of the sites, named Cecil, is expected to be sold once all rights are granted by midsummer. Sales of the three other sites, Zama, Thornbury, and the Peace River Arch, are expected to close about the same time.
Proceeds from the sale will be used to pay down bank debt.
Duke Buying Renewable Energy Company Catamount
Duke Energy Corp. will buy privately held Catamount Energy Corp. for $240 million, plus assumed debt, to bolster its wind energy generation capability.
Duke bought the Rutland, Vt.-based renewable energy company from private-equity firm Diamond Castle Holdings LLC.
Catamount currently operates facilities providing 300 megawatts of renewable energy.
In May 2007, Duke bought Austin, Texas-based Tierra Energy, which builds wind power and natural gas-fired power generation facilities for an undisclosed amount.
--Compiled by AP Business Writer Greg Stec. Questions or comments can be directed to gstec@ap.org.
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