A Day of Terror: Energy Firms Act to Protect Their Systems
The Wall Street Journal, 09/12/01
A Day of Terror: Attacks in U.S. Spur Rise in Energy Prices --- Some Suspect the Terrorism Has Origins in Mideast, Fear Supply Disruption
The Wall Street Journal, 09/12/01
Enron Starts U.S. Gas and Power Trading After Attacks (Update1)
Bloomberg, 09/12/01

Enron Will Resume Mkt-Making In N. Amer Gas, Power
Dow Jones News Service, 09/12/01

Houston Workers Quickly Head Out of Towers, Big Companies Close Down
KRTBN Knight-Ridder Tribune Business News: Houston Chronicle - Texas, 09/12/01
Energy Cos Reviewing S Asia Ops Security After US Attack
Dow Jones Energy Service, 09/12/01
Enron India/Precautions -4:Holds Dabhol Controlling Stake
Emerging Markets Report, 09/12/01
'Stir against proposed power tariff hike'
The Times of India, 09/12/01
Nymex: Conference Call Tue To Consider Reopening
Dow Jones Energy Service, 09/11/01
Bandwidth-Trading Operations Shut Down After Terrorist Attacks in U.S.
Dow Jones Business News, 09/11/01
Analyst: 'Fear, Short Covering' Seen In Natural Gas
Dow Jones Energy Service, 09/11/01
Power Trading Ceases as Utilities Step Up Security After Attacks
Dow Jones Business News, 09/11/01
INDIA: Enron's Indian unit finds it hard to repay debt.
Reuters English News Service, 09/11/01
USA: U.S. power trading ceases after attacks.
Reuters English News Service, 09/11/01
El Paso, Dynegy Among Texas Companies Evacuated (Update1)
Bloomberg, 09/11/01

Enron, El Paso Shut Down Energy Trading After Attacks (Update1)
Bloomberg, 09/11/01





A Day of Terror: Energy Firms Act to Protect Their Systems
By Wall Street Journal staff reporters Rebecca Smith, John Emshwiller and Alexei Barrionuevo

09/12/2001
The Wall Street Journal
A2
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

Energy companies that control the nation's electricity and natural-gas supplies as well as big oil companies went on heightened alert to safeguard the system from possible attack. 
Across the country, utility emergency control centers came to life and extra security patrols were initiated. But with thousands of miles of pipelines and transmission lines, it was largely a symbolic effort. With energy markets suspended and trading floors closed in New York and Houston, the biggest impact was financial.
In California, grid officials were preparing to order plants to operate today according to work schedules submitted for yesterday's market day. 
Enron Corp., Dynegy Inc. and Reliant Energy Inc. largely shut down their headquarters offices in Houston, except for essential personnel. However, they said they were maintaining normal deliveries of electricity and gas to customers. "We have a skeleton crew on the trading floor but I don't think anyone is focused on trading today," a Reliant spokesman said. 
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission ordered the nation's 104 nuclear reactors to implement heightened security plans although many utilities that own generating plants already had done so. Exelon Corp. put its 17 reactors at 10 plant sites on alert voluntarily -- and largely vacated its 60- plus story headquarters office tower in downtown Chicago. "We sent everybody home we could," said Don Kirchoffner, head of communications for the firm that owns the old Commonwealth Edison and Philadelphia Electric utilities. "At our plants, we've doubled the security." 
Nuclear power plant containment buildings, where radioreactive materials are housed, are "hardened" against war-time or terrorist attack. They are designed to withstand accidental air crashes and hurricanes, as well, and have concrete walls up to four feet thick that lie outside heavy steel liners, often an inch thick. 
Nevertheless, critics always have feared that terrorists might be able to get inside the plants and cause mayhem. Edison International said it has asked the California Highway Patrol to monitor traffic along Interstate 5, which lies a short distance from its San Onofre nuclear plant south of Los Angeles that's operated by its Southern California Edison unit. 
Like companies everywhere, Tulsa-based Williams Cos. started the day by locating its top three levels of management. Then the energy company traced employee travel to determine whether any employees might have been in lower Manhattan or at the Pentagon at the time of the terrorist attacks. "We still don't know for sure," Williams spokesman Jim Gipson said. 
In the wake of the attacks, oil companies said they heightened security measures at refineries but no company reported a curtailment in the production of gasoline or other refined products. 
BP PLC, Shell Oil Co., Chevron Corp., Valero Energy Corp. and Phillips Petroleum Co. all said that their facilities were operating normally. 
A spokesman for Valero, San Antonio, said the company instructed refinery managers in a morning conference call to restrict the flow of "outsiders" into its plants. 
Phillips Petroleum, Bartlesville, Okla., instituted a travel ban for overseas U.S. workers. "We have just said, `stay where you are for now,'" a Phillips spokeswoman said. 
Kinder Morgan Inc., Houston, shut down a petroleum-products storage facility in New York Harbor that feeds Northeast refineries and gas stations. The 6.6 million-barrel facility stores and transfers gasoline, jet fuel and diesel.

Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	

A Day of Terror: Attacks in U.S. Spur Rise in Energy Prices --- Some Suspect the Terrorism Has Origins in Mideast, Fear Supply Disruption
By Alexei Barrionuevo
Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

09/12/2001
The Wall Street Journal
A2
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

Energy prices soared on fears the terrorist attacks might have originated in the Middle East and that potential U.S. retaliatory action could disrupt oil supplies. 
The price of the U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate yesterday rose to as high as $31 a barrel for both October and November delivery following the attacks, up from $27.63 for the October price Monday. The attacks shuttered commodity trading at least through today at the New York Mercantile Exchange, which operates in a World Financial Center building next door to the World Trade Center.
Gasoline pump prices also began shooting up in locations nationwide in the wake of the attacks. By lunchtime, workers reported seeing stations posting prices of $2.09 a gallon in Lansing, Mich. Consumers in Tulsa, Okla., also reported prices that had spiked by more than 20 cents a gallon at several stations. 
Across the country, people lined up at gasoline stations to top off their tanks, apparently concerned about gasoline supplies. Exxon Mobil Corp., one of the country's largest gasoline retailers, advised against it. The company said it had "ample supplies" of gasoline and urged consumers to "maintain normal buying habits to avoid artificial run-outs." In a statement, BP PLC said "for today, we are holding the line on prices." 
Trucks lined up several deep at Valero Energy Corp.'s Benicia, Calif., gasoline pick-up terminal. Valero was the only refining company in the San Francisco Bay Area that kept open its terminal, said Greg Kaneb, a Valero vice president. Other companies apparently closed theirs for security reasons, later reopening them after lunch. As a result, wholesale prices for several refiners shot up as much as 20 cents a gallon, Mr. Kaneb said. 
"There's going to be a public reaction that's going to create some uncertainty," said Jeff Pillon, energy analyst at the Michigan Public Service Commission. "We've seen a lot of volatility. For things to jump around would not be surprising." 
Should oil prices continue to climb, members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries appeared ready to step in and boost production. Ali Rodriguez, OPEC's secretary general, said the organization is prepared to take whatever measures are necessary to stop prices from spiking. Speaking by radio in Caracas, Venezuela, Mr. Rodriguez said stability in oil markets is the group's top priority, and that he fully expects prices to level off. 
Several key OPEC producers, including Saudi Arabia, Iran and Kuwait, could turn up the taps. The organization has cut 3.5 million barrels a day from their production this year and has some excess supply. "OPEC is in a great position," said Adam E. Sieminski, global energy strategist at Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown. 
Meanwhile, a surge in panic buying the next few days could send prices to $35 a barrel, said Michael C. Lynch, chief energy economist for DRI-WEFA Inc. "The industry is going to expect some kind of retaliation" from the U.S., Mr. Lynch said. 
After the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, which led to the close of the NYMEX for less than a day, oil prices rose to a then-four-month high of $21 a barrel. 
A greater concern is a repeat of the panic buying that followed the 1979 Iranian revolution. Fears the revolution would spread to other Middle East nations led the oil industry to stockpile greater-than-normal inventories for nearly a year and a half. Prices didn't drop until industry storage tanks were full, Mr. Lynch said. 
The closing of the NYMEX presents more immediate problems for the crude-oil and natural-gas markets. Analysts expect markets in London, Singapore and Chicago to cover for the NYMEX. But most of the focus in the U.S. will shift to the physical markets, such as West Texas Intermediate, which tracks closely with NYMEX crude futures contracts. Online exchanges such as Enron Corp.'s EnronOnline and Dynegy Inc.'s Dynegydirect, where traders can trade away from the NYMEX floor, will also be tested, said an executive at a Houston energy company. Yesterday, however, Enron's service was down because the company's Houston building was evacuated. 
--- 
Bhushan Bahree in Paris and Thaddeus Herrick contributed to this article.

Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	

Enron Starts U.S. Gas and Power Trading After Attacks (Update1)
2001-09-12 09:00 (New York)

Enron Starts U.S. Gas and Power Trading After Attacks (Update1)

     (Adds Enron will stop trading at noon Houston time in fifth
paragraph.)

     Houston, Sept. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Enron Corp., the largest
energy trader, said it will resume trading of natural gas and
electricity today following terrorist attacks that destroyed New
York's World Trade Center and damaged the Pentagon.

     ``We see no reason for North American natural gas and power
markets to become unstable in the aftermath of yesterday's
tragedies,'' Chief Operating Officer Greg Whalley said in a
statement.

     Enron will trade through its EnronOnline Internet site and by
telephone, spokesman Mark Palmer said. The New York Mercantile
Exchange said it won't open its trading floor today. The Nymex,
near the World Trade Center site, was evacuated yesterday after
two airplanes crashed into the center's twin towers.

     Enron, based in Houston, and other U.S. energy traders such
as El Paso Corp. and Mirant Corp., suspended trading yesterday
after the attacks.

     The company will stop trading at noon Houston time. As many
as 4,000 trades worth about $2.5 billion are conducted daily
through EnronOnline. The company also handles 400 to 500 trades by
telephone daily, Palmer said.

     Enron executives don't expect U.S. gas and power markets to
be affected by Tuesday's events, though prices might swing widely,
Palmer said.

Enron Will Resume Mkt-Making In N. Amer Gas, Power

09/12/2001
Dow Jones News Service
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

HOUSTON -(Dow Jones)- Enron Corp. (ENE) will resume its North American market-making activity by acquiring and selling natural gas and power through telephones and its online transaction platform until noon CDT. 
Enron said in a press release Wednesday that it sees no reason for North American natural gas and power markets to become unstable in the aftermath of Tuesday's tragedies.
The energy company added that "these are domestic commodities, and the physical infrastructure is secure and operating." 
Enron's markets outside North America will operate according to their normal schedule. 
-Eamon Beltran; Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5400

Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	



Houston Workers Quickly Head Out of Towers, Big Companies Close Down

09/12/2001
KRTBN Knight-Ridder Tribune Business News: Houston Chronicle - Texas
Copyright (C) 2001 KRTBN Knight Ridder Tribune Business News; Source: World Reporter (TM)

Many of Houston's big companies shut down Tuesday soon after word came of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, leaving local office towers nearly vacant and halting regular commerce in Houston. 
Houston's center turned into a ghost town as employees went home or moved to satellite offices to continue their work away from the big office towers.
Across the city, companies appeared to be planning to be working today, said Bill Goeke, senior vice president of PM Realty Group, which manages more than 250 Houston-area buildings. 
"Based on what we're hearing, it's business as usual tomorrow," Goeke said. 
Hines, the Houston-based real estate firm that owns 150 buildings around the nation, including 24 in Houston, evacuated all of its buildings Tuesday, but it plans to reopen them today. 
However, Hines has increased security at all its buildings, with guards posted both inside and outside. 
Crescent Real Estate Equities, which owns Greenway Plaza, downtown's Houston Center and major office buildings elsewhere, put more security personnel into action at its 78 buildings across the nation, spokeswoman Sandra Porter said. 
Crescent security was closely scrutinizing all packages being carried into its buildings and looking for suspicious activity, Porter said. 
Traffic was gridlocked Tuesday morning with an early rush hour out of downtown. Street corners were also packed with riders waiting for buses. At some corners, it was almost impossible to wade through as people wheeled boxes and briefcases down the sidewalks. 
The Galleria, one of the nation's largest shopping centers, also shuttered its doors, putting its 300 stores out of business for the day. But managers there expect the Galleria to be open today. 
Many downtown restaurants closed when it became apparent that lunch-hour business would be scarce. 
Dan Tidwell, co-owner of Treebeards, said when Enron and Dynegy closed Tuesday morning, there was a domino effect. By noon, business at three of his five downtown locations had pretty much dried up. Only the Market Square and Christ Church Cathedral locations stayed open. 
By late Tuesday afternoon, Tidwell said he was preparing to open at least some of his locations for a regular day today. 
"We'll be there at 6 a.m. peeling the shrimp and cooking the beans," Tidwell said. 
Houston companies where most workers went home early included Bank of America, BP, First City, Enron, Shell, Williams Cos., Bank One, Wells Fargo, Dynegy, Aim Management and Chevron. 
Before midday, the Vinson & Elkins law firm dismissed its 1,200 employees working in the First City Tower downtown. 
Tishman Speyer Properties, a New York-based real estate firm that manages Rockefeller Center and dozens of buildings around the nation, decided to shut down all of its properties Tuesday, said Chip Colvill, head of the firm's Houston office. The 1,500 people who who work in Tishman Speyer's 20-story BriarLake Plaza building on the West Belt went home early. 
Pennzoil-Quaker State Co. didn't officially close Tuesday but allowed its employees to leave early. It plans to be open today, said Wendy Hopkins, manager of employee communications. The company will put out a message on its telephone hot line, a communication system more typically reserved for weather emergencies, to let employees know, Hopkins said. 
Some companies are letting their employees decide. Vinson & Elkins plans to be open today, but employee comfort is of paramount importance, a spokesman for the firm said. 
If someone doesn't feel comfortable returning, the firm will certainly understand, said Joe Householder, the firm's manager of public relations. 
When news of the attacks came out Tuesday morning, businesses focused on security and opted to shut down to avoid a disaster like the one at the World Trade Center. But as it became apparent that Houston wasn't a target, businesses began concentrating on employee needs and sent them home to calm their fears. 
Employees began to worry about their children and their emotional health if they were left at school while others were picked up, said Bill Sala, vice president and managing director of the Innis Co., a human resource consulting firm in Houston. 
It's hard to know what to do because the situation is so out of the ordinary, but Sala believes employers wanted their employees to be with their families and children. 
Steve Currall, associate professor of management and psychology at the Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University, said he immediately told his assistant to take care of her family responsibilities. 
It's the least a manager can do, Currall said. It's also important for managers to give employees a choice because people deal with stress in different ways. Some would rather stay at work and not deviate from their schedules. Others want to sit at home and watch the television coverage. 
Downtown Houston was virtually vacant by late afternoon. Empty buses moved along traffic-free downtown streets at 5 p.m. 
Cabdriver Raed Alwqfi said he had waited two hours outside the Chase Tower without getting a rider. 
"We're still waiting," he said. "There's nobody here." 
By Ralph Bivins and L.M. Sixel

Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	

Energy Cos Reviewing S Asia Ops Security After US Attack
By Sri Jegarajah
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

09/12/2001
Dow Jones Energy Service
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

SINGAPORE -(Dow Jones)- Foreign energy companies active in South Asia's power, oil and natural gas sectors are reviewing security arrangements in the wake of terrorist attacks against the U.S. and possible repercussions in the subcontinent. 
"I would imagine every large multinational in South Asia is reviewing their security procedures, but I think that's as far as it's going at the moment," said Matthew Foreman, South Asia analyst with London-based global business risk consultancy Control Risks Group (U.CRG).
As reported, U.S. energy major Enron Corp.'s (ENE) India subsidiary said it has taken adequate security precautions to protect high-profile projects in the power, oil and natural gas sectors, including the controversial 2,184-megawatt, US$3 billion Dabhol project in Maharastra - in which Enron holds a 65% controlling stake. 
"Enron India has taken adequate precautions to ensure continued safekeeping around its installations, employees and offices in consultation with corporate security," Enron India spokesman Jimmy Mogal told Dow Jones Newswires. 
"Being a vital installation, we also receive maximum cooperation from the appropriate government authorities," he added. 
Advised To Be Vigilant In Pakistan 

Energy companies active in Pakistan should exercise particular vigilance, CRG's Foreman said, especially if they're operating in remote areas. 
U.K.-based Premier Oil PLC's (PMOIY) Pakistan subsidiary shut its Islamabad office for the day Wednesday due to possible flashpoints in the Pakistani capital after the U.S. attack, according to company spokesman David Coppin, who added that Premier Oil will reopen its offices Thursday. 
Austrian energy group OMV Aktiengesellschaft's (R.OMV) Pakistan unit OMV (Pakistan) Exploration Gesellschaft MbH has been placed on a "low-level alert" in the wake of terrorist attacks against the U.S., an industry source familiar with the company said Wednesday. 
"Right now the alert is at a low level, but it's not reached an emergency status," the source said, adding that he wasn't aware of any plans to evacuate nonessential personnel. 
In an advisory posted on the company's Web site, www.crg.com, the consultancy said earlier Wednesday, "retaliatory U.S. military action is expected against targets in Afghanistan and possibly Yemen" in the wake of terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington Tuesday. 
It added: "Violent Islamic extremist reaction to U.S. military action is expected in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen...popular anger such as mass demonstrations are also highly probable." 
Foreign companies should evacuate nonessential staff and dependents immediately - before the U.S. retaliation, advised CRG, adding essential staff should be prepared to evacuate at short notice. 
U.S. Could Retaliate With Force 

Speaking less than 12 hours after two hijacked jetliners slammed into the World Trade Center towers in New York and a third jet into the Pentagon, U.S. President George W. Bush said in his televised address, "We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them." 
U.S. officials said early evidence pointed toward suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden based in Afghanistan. The ruling Taliban movement enjoys close ties with Pakistan, but Islamabad has always distanced itself from bin Laden and his group. 
"We're being cautious, but essentially we're working on the premise that if the U.S. does find a link with Osama bin Laden and the attack, then they could retaliate with a great deal of force," Foreman said. 
"Protests could be worse in Baluchistan and the North West Frontier Province as bin Laden has a significant amount of support there. North West Frontier Province and Baluchistan are mostly rural areas with not a huge amount of law and order, so any company would be in a particularly vulnerable position," he said. 
Turning to Sri Lanka, Foreman said he expected Tamil rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to hold off from launching any major attacks on the same scale as the devastating assault on the island's only international airport July 24. 
"If the Tigers blow something up so soon after the U.S. attack, then they stand to be identified with that strand of behavior," he said. 
-By Sri Jegarajah, Dow Jones Newswires; 65-415-4066; sri.jegarajah@dowjones.com -0- 12/09/01 11-48G

Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	

Enron India/Precautions -4:Holds Dabhol Controlling Stake

09/12/2001
Emerging Markets Report
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

Enron's Dabhol power project represents the largest single foreign investment in India. 
Enron holds a 65% controlling stake in the controversial 2,184-megawatt, US$3 billion Dabhol project in the northern state of Maharastra, which supplies power to the State Electricity Board. MSEB holds a 15% stake, General Electric Co. (GE) has 10% and Bechtel (X.BTL) with 10% held by others.
The second phase of the project was scheduled for completion at the end of the year, but has suffered delays due to a payments dispute between the DPC and the MSEB. 
Enron India holds a 30% stake in the Panna-Mukta and Tapti oil and gas fields offshore India. 
Joint venture partners - state-owned Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (P.ONG) and privately owned Reliance Industries Ltd. (R.REL) - hold 40% and 30% stakes, respectively. The fields are located off the coast of Gujarat and Maharashtra. 
However, last year Enron announced it was seeking to divest its stake. 
The company also has offices in Bombay and New Delhi and a site office in the state of Gujarat overseeing operations at the offshore fields. 
-By Sri Jegarajah, Dow Jones Newswires; 65-415-4066; sri.jegarajah@dowjones.com

Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	

'Stir against proposed power tariff hike'

09/12/2001
The Times of India
Copyright (C) 2001 The Times of India; Source: World Reporter (TM)

PUNE: Strongly criticising the 19 per cent hike in power tariff and the four-hour load-shedding regime proposed by the Maharashtra State Electricity Board, the Bharatiya Janata Party national vicepresident and former deputy chief minister Gopinath Munde on Monday warned his party would launch a state-wide agitation if the proposal was not withdrawn. 
Addressing a press conference here, Mr Munde said power generated by both phases of the Enron project be bought to tide over the present shortfall in generation.
Even the Madhav Godbole committee has recommended buying power from Enron at reasonable rates, he said, suggesting that Mr Godbole should be entrusted with the task of fixing the tariff. 
Mr Munde said it would be foolish not to buy power from Enron and other sources considering that the state was experiencing a shortfall of 1,500 MW. 
The four-hour load-shedding and 19 per cent tariff hike proposed by the MSEB was totally uncalled for and would only add to the burden on 98,000 domestic and agricultural consumers, he remarked. 
Mr Munde said the fresh tariff proposal was likely to increase electricity charges for domestic consumers from 60 to 100 per cent and that for agricultural consumers from Rs 600 per horse power to Rs 1,500 per horse power. 
Mr Munde charged the government with not encouraging wind power projects, co-generation and captive generation to augment electricity availability. No new project had been sanctioned after the Democratic Front government came to power.

Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	

Nymex: Conference Call Tue To Consider Reopening

09/11/2001
Dow Jones Energy Service
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

HOUSTON -(Dow Jones)- The New York Mercantile Exchange will consider when to reopen during a conference call this afternoon, a spokeswoman said Tuesday. 
Spokeswoman Nachamah Jacobovits said a reopening "is delayed for now" but that officials will meet by conference call at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2230 GMT) to discuss a possible reopening.
"Everyone was evacuated safely," she told Dow Jones Newswires at midafternoon Tuesday. 
About 8,000 people work at the Exchange, located just a few blocks from the World Trade Center towers, which collapsed earlier Tuesday after being hit by two separate jetliners. Earlier, the American Gas Association hadn't decided whether it will publish its weekly storage report on Wednesday. The American Petroleum Institute was issuing its weekly report despite the tragedy. 
The AGA offices, near the U.S. Capitol and in the same building that houses C-SPAN and other news organizations, closed Tuesday after apparent terrorist attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington. Trading on over-the-counter markets early Tuesday pushed the October natural gas futures contract as high as $2.83 per million British thermal units before trading was suspended. By the time Enron Online closed, the October contract had settled back to $2.73/MMBtu. 
Physical gas at the benchmark Henry Hub was trading around $2.47-$2.48/MMBtu at midmorning, traders said. 
-By John Edmiston, Dow Jones Newswires, 713-547-9209; john.edmiston@dowjones.com

Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	

Bandwidth-Trading Operations Shut Down After Terrorist Attacks in U.S.

09/11/2001
Dow Jones Business News
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

Dow Jones Newswires 
HOUSTON -- A number of telecommunications-bandwidth-trading operations in the U.S. shut down Tuesday morning as a result of terrorism attacks in New York and Washington, D.C.
Nonessential operations at Dynegy Corp. (DYN), Enron Corp. (ENE), Reliant Energy Inc. (REI), El Paso Corp. (EPG) have been shut down, officials at those companies said. 
Telecommunications-bandwidth-trading operations allow access to fiber-optic networks to be swapped in a manner similar to access to natural-gas-pipeline capacity. 
Meanwhile, London-based British Telecommunications PLC (BTY) and Vodafone Group PLC (VOD), Newbury, England, both continued operating normally and said they were experiencing very high traffic on their trans-Atlantic circuits following the terrorist attacks. 
A Vodafone spokeswoman said the company expects volume on the trans-Atlantic lines to increase further when people returned home for the day and watched news broadcasts. The company has enough capacity to cope with the increase, the spokeswoman added. 
Derrick Parkhill, a vice president with the energy and bandwidth brokerage Amerex in Sugar Land, Texas, a suburb of Houston, said the company closed all of its trading operations. 
"All of our floors are closed," Mr. Parkhill said. "All of our customers have closed. It just seems better to get home." 
Mr. Parkhill said his thoughts were turning to the Cantor Fitzgerald office in one of the towers of the World Trade Center in New York. Cantor Fitzgerald operates a bandwidth brokerage there. 
Calls to the New York office of TFS Telecom, a few blocks south of the World Trade Center, weren't answered Tuesday morning. There were no reports of damage to that building at 17 State St. 
The towers of the World Trade Center collapsed Tuesday morning after terrorists hijacked two airliners and crashed them into each of the buildings in a coordinated series of blows. A plane also hit the Pentagon. 
-By Michael Rieke, Dow Jones Newswires; 713-547-9207; michael.rieke@wsj.com and Erwin Seba, Dow Jones Newswires; 713-547-9224; erwin.seba@dowjones.com 
Copyright (c) 2001 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. 
All Rights Reserved.

Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	

Analyst: 'Fear, Short Covering' Seen In Natural Gas

09/11/2001
Dow Jones Energy Service
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

HOUSTON -(Dow Jones)- Natural gas prices could easily soar "in a massive short covering rally" as the markets regroup from the apparent terrorist action that destroyed the World Trade Center in New York, traders and analysts said Tuesday. 
Producers are still bringing gas into the pipelines, as the markets determine when to reopen, a trader said.
"It's going to be a test of wills as to how rational people will react," said a fund analyst in Texas who preferred to not be identified. 
Major companies such as Enron Corp. (ENE), Dynegy Corp. (DYN), Duke Energy (DUK) and El Paso Corp. (EPG) own gas paper "scattered three-to-five years out," the analyst said. "Will that bring those companies to their knees? I don't know." 
The attacks open up the domestic gas market to the same wild price fluctuations seen in global oil markets when trouble flares in the Mideast, a trader said. 
"Now you're talking about the sovereign soil of the U.S.," he said. 
The Commitments of Traders Report last Friday showed noncommercial traders, or funds, still hold net short positions in the natural gas market. Funds could be expected to "flatten their books" and get out of those short positions quickly once the markets reopen. 
"The market is short in the long run and now the biggest problem is the fear factor," a trader said. 
He said key price resistance areas for October gas would be $2.85 per million British thermal units up to $3.40/MMBtu. Trading on over-the-counter markets early Tuesday had pushed the October natural gas futures contract as high as $2.83 per million British thermal units before trading was suspended. By the time Enron Online closed, the October had settled back to $2.73/MMBtu. 
Physical gas at the benchmark Henry Hub was trading around $2.47-$2.48/MMBtu at midmorning, traders said. 
"I'm telling customers to just not do anything," said Charlie Sanchez of Gelber & Associates. "They've pretty much shut down the country." 
Sanchez is unsure how the market reacts to global issues, "but there should be some hiccups after the dust settles," maybe to the $2.60s/MMBtu. Several Houston energy companies and major office towers in downtown Houston sent employees home in the wake of the apparent terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. 
Dynegy's offices were closed at midmorning Tuesday and Enron Corp. spokeswoman Meredith Wilson said Enron was closing its offices for the rest of the day and had asked employees to go home. 
Officials at the downtown Chase Tower said it hadn't yet closed the building but that individual offices sent employees home. Other offices had also closed down and sent employees home. 
At downtown El Paso Corp. (EPG) offices, non-critical employees were being sent home "to be with their family," said Kim Wallace, a spokeswoman. 
"You hear the phones going crazy; everything's secure and in light of what's happening, employees will be better off with their families," Wallace said. 
There was no indications at midday Tuesday when markets might reopen. 
-By John Edmiston, Dow Jones Newswires, 713-547-9209; john.edmiston@dowjones.com

Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	

Power Trading Ceases as Utilities Step Up Security After Attacks

09/11/2001
Dow Jones Business News
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

HOUSTON -- Power-trading activity in the U.S. came to a virtual halt Tuesday after the apparent terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington. 
Only essential power trades were being handled, people familiar with the matter told Dow Jones Newswires.
Meanwhile, U.S. utilities beefed up security at nuclear and other power plants. 
Safety concerns in Houston, where a large number of energy trading operations are based, led to the closing or evacuation of many buildings. 
Officials at Enron Corp. (ENE), Dynegy Inc. (DYN), El Paso Corp. (EPG), Reliant Energy (REI) and other companies sent employees home Tuesday morning. 
Safety concerns were widespread across the country. Power traders working in central and western U.S. markets reported little or no power trading activity, with trading floors either evacuated or stripped down to essential employees only. 
Aside from ensuring supplies to serve their own customers, utilities aren't active in the markets, traders said. 
"The brokers have all gone home," a Midwestern power trader said. "We're trying to hurry up and get the hell out of here." 
Another Midwest trader said his office was being evacuated, and that they had no idea when they would resume marketing power. 
"Everything's getting shut down," the trader said. 
U.S. utilities with large nuclear activities are also taking precautions. 
In addition to closing offices in three downtown Chicago high-rises, Exelon Corp. (EXC) said it has stepped up security at its large fleet of nuclear power plants. Exelon is the largest nuclear plant operator in the U.S., with generators in Illinois and Pennsylvania. It also has partial ownership in a New Jersey plant. 
Diane Park a spokeswoman for Entergy Corp.'s (ETR) nuclear operations, also reported that Entergy's nuclear plants in the Southeast and Northeast were operating at a higher level of security as did Reliant's Fruhman. 
-- Eileen O'Grady and Jon Kamp of Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this article. 
Copyright (c) 2001 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. 
All Rights Reserved.

Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	

INDIA: Enron's Indian unit finds it hard to repay debt.

09/11/2001
Reuters English News Service
(C) Reuters Limited 2001.

NEW DELHI, Sept 11 (Reuters) - U.S. energy firm Enron Corp's Indian unit, Dabhol Power Co (DPC), said on Tuesday financial constraints following a payments dispute, will now hurt debt repayment and maintenance of the idling $2.9-billion plant. 
"DPC will now be limited in its ability to continue both debt repayment and asset preservation," Enron India's spokesman, Jimmy Mogal, said in a statement.
DPC, 65-percent owned by Houston-based Enron, is locked in a bitter payments dispute with an Indian utility, the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB). 
The plant's first phase of 740 MW has been idling since May when MSEB, its sole customer, stopped buying power. The second phase of 1,444 MW was 97 percent complete when further construction was abandoned due to the dispute. 
The Maharashtra state's power regulator intervened in the dispute earlier this year and asked the company not to activate a special bank account. 
The jurisdiction of the regulator over the Dabhol dispute has been challenged in an Indian court. The Press Trust of India reported on Tuesday that the Bombay High Court will hear the matter on September 17. 
DPC said the MSEB was trying to prevent it from exercising contractual rights. 
Indian lenders to the project have a total exposure of about $1.4 billion. Loans of about $638 million by offshore lenders are covered by guarantees provided by Indian institutions. 
Apart from Enron, which hold 65 percent in DPC, U.S. conglomerate, General Electric and construction firm, Bechtel, each own 10 percent. MSEB owns the remaining 15 percent.

Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	

USA: U.S. power trading ceases after attacks.

09/11/2001
Reuters English News Service
(C) Reuters Limited 2001.

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Many power markets in the U.S. were shutting down on Tuesday following the aerial attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and at the Pentagon just outside Washington. 
Electricity traders in Houston; Minneapolis; Omaha, Neb.; and Long Beach, Calif., said the markets were shutting or trading at extremely low volumes.
"Trading is pretty much shut down now," said Rick Sornberger, a trader at MPEX in Minneapolis, a division of Minnesota Power. 
"Everybody in the trading business knows somebody who works in the World Trade Center," said an electricity dealer who works in Long Beach, Calif., for Mieko, a unit of Japan's Marubeni Corp. 
"Most of the trades occurred before the news from New York," he said. 
An Enron power trader in Houston said she and colleagues were leaving their building but it was not an evacuation. 
"Everybody shut down ... no one is working," said a power trader for Omaha Public Power District in Omaha, Neb.

Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	

El Paso, Dynegy Among Texas Companies Evacuated (Update1)
2001-09-11 18:19 (New York)

El Paso, Dynegy Among Texas Companies Evacuated (Update1)

     (Updates with comments from Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk in the 11th
paragraph, and details of airports and the Houston Ship Channel
operations in the ninth and 10th paragraphs.)

     Houston, Sept. 11 (Bloomberg) -- El Paso Corp., which runs
the largest U.S. natural-gas pipeline, evacuated about 4,000
employees from its Houston headquarters as businesses and
government agencies around the state shut down or stepped up
security after terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

     Dynegy Inc. evacuated 2,500 people from its downtown Houston
office and moved operations to backup locations, spokesman John
Sousa said. Other companies, including Reliant Energy Inc. also
sent workers home, while Electronic Data Systems Corp., Texas
Instruments Inc. and Halliburton Co., all based in the Dallas
area, adopted more stringent security.

     Neither Dallas nor Houston ordered evacuations, although many
buildings in both cities' downtowns were cleared voluntarily.

     ``We have taken the appropriate precautions,'' Houston Mayor
Lee Brown said in a press conference at the city's emergency
management center. ``We have advised employers to use their
discretion and we will do the same thing in city government.''

     In Dallas, city and federal offices remained open, city
spokesman Pete Oppel said. City officials wanted to avoid a panic
amid the voluntary evacuations, he said.

     The moves followed attacks earlier today in which terrorists
hijacked commercial jetliners and flew them into the New York
World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

     Schools around the state dismissed classes early or allowed
parents to pick up their children before the end of the school
day. About six malls in the Dallas-Fort Worth area closed, said
Scott Peck, operations manager for the Parks at Arlington, which
shut down about 1 p.m. local time.

                           Down to Earth

     NASA's Johnson Space Center outside Houston also closed.

     The Houston Ship Channel remained open, Brown said. The
Houston Port Authority, which oversees the channel, and local
Coast Guard officials are on a heightened state of alert and are
checking ships entering the port, he said. The channel is the
biggest U.S. port for foreign cargo, handling 7,000 vessels and
200,000 barges annually.

     The Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, the world's
second-busiest, suspended operations earlier today after the U.S.
Federal Aviation Administration ordered the simultaneous grounding
of all planes at U.S. airports for the first time. Airport and
city officials were trying to find accommodations for stranded
passengers.

     ``We have most of the people out of the airport,'' Dallas
Mayor Ron Kirk said. The airport said it didn't know how many
passengers were stranded at Dallas's Love Field and Houston's
Hobby and George Bush International Airports also were closed
along with dozens of others around the state.

     Compaq Computer Corp. Chief Executive Michael Capellas told
employees they were free to leave, spokesman Steve Sievert said.

     EDS, the second-biggest U.S. computer-services firm, limited
access to its headquarters in Plano, Texas, north of Dallas, and
shut down its office in Herndon, Virginia, spokesman Tom Mattia
said.

     ``We have imposed a ban on all travel, domestic and
international,'' Mattia said. ``We've restricted access to all our
locations to employees only.''

     EDS manages computer systems for government offices,
including the Pentagon, and has clients in the World Trade Center.
Mattia said the company was still trying to determine if any of
its employees were in the buildings at the time of the attacks.

                           Energy Crunch

     The attacks affected Texas energy-trading companies as well.
The New York Mercantile Exchange, the largest energy exchange,
evacuated its offices and closed them until further notice. The
shutdown affected over-the-counter and Internet trading systems
such as Enron Corp.'s EnronOnline.

     EnronOnline, the largest Internet-trading site, which handles
$2.5 billion of transactions a day, shut down as Enron let
employees leave its 50-story headquarters in downtown Houston.

     TXU Corp., the Dallas-based owner of Texas's largest
utilities, closed trading operations for the day. It expects to
reopen tomorrow, spokeswoman Carol Peters said.

     SBC Communications Inc., the second-biggest U.S. local phone
company, tightened security at its San Antonio headquarters and
other offices and stepped up monitoring of its telephone network.
SBC said its network remained fully operational, although it's
receiving higher-than-normal call volumes since the attacks.

                    Instruments of Destruction

     In Fort Worth, the offices of AMR Corp., the parent of
American Airlines, remained open. All of American's flights were
canceled after the FAA's order. Two American jetliners were among
the four hijacked planes used in the attacks.

     The carrier is working closely with the FBI, which is in
charge of the investigation into the attacks, spokesman Al Becker
said.

     ``They are getting our total cooperation,'' he said. ``There
are overreaching national securities issues here.''

     At Lockheed Martin Corp.'s aircraft plant in Fort Worth,
which builds F-16 fighter jets, officials stepped up security
measures but no employees were evacuated, spokesman Joe Stout
said.


Enron, El Paso Shut Down Energy Trading After Attacks (Update1)
2001-09-11 16:11 (New York)

Enron, El Paso Shut Down Energy Trading After Attacks (Update1)

     (Adds that TradeSpark energy-trading system was in World
Trade Center in sixth paragraph.)

     Houston, Sept. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Enron Corp., El Paso Corp.
and other energy-trading companies closed their offices and shut
down operations after terrorist attacks in New York and
Washington, halting billions of dollars in commodities business.

     ``We're sending people home to be with their families,'' El
Paso spokesman Mel Scott said.

     The New York Mercantile Exchange, the largest energy
exchange, evacuated its offices and closed them until further
notice.

     The Nymex is located on the waterfront near the World Trade
Center, which was destroyed after hijacked airliners were flown
into each of its two towers this morning. The exchange handles
contracts valued at $3.1 trillion each year.

     The exchange's shutdown also affected over-the-counter
markets and Internet trading systems such as EnronOnline because
many commodity trades are linked to Nymex contract prices.

     TradeSpark LP, an electronic energy-trading system, was on
the 105th floor of one of the World Trade Center towers, Williams
Cos. spokeswoman Julie Gentz said. Williams founded TradeSpark
with Dominion Resources Inc., closely held Koch Industries Inc.
brokerage Cantor Fitzgerald and other companies.

     EnronOnline, the largest Internet energy and commodities
trading site, quit operating. EnronOnline handles $2.5 billion in
transactions each day, and has processed more than $685 billion in
since it started up in November 1999.

                           Enron Closed

     ``We closed the Enron building for the rest of the day and
sent non-essential personnel home,'' said Karen Denne, an Enron
spokeswoman. ``We expect to be back in business tomorrow.'' Enron
has a 50-story tower in downtown Houston.

     El Paso, owner of the largest U.S. natural-gas pipeline
network as well as an energy trader, evacuated 4,000 employees
from its Houston offices.

     Houston-based Dynegy Inc. sent home 2,500 employees,
spokesman John Sousa said. Mirant Corp. said it hasn't evacuated
its Atlanta offices, although its traders stopped working after
Nymex and EnronOnline halted trading.

     TXU, the Dallas-based owner of Texas's largest utilities and
an international energy trader, said it closed its trading
operations for the day.

     ``We expect to be open for business tomorrow,'' TXU
spokeswoman Carol Peters said. ``Steps have been taken to ensure
we can operate tomorrow if we don't have access to our offices.''

     Speculation that the attacks may cause conflict with nations
in the Middle East, home to much of the world's oil reserves, sent
prices soaring in over-the-counter markets and on exchanges
outside the U.S.

     Surveys of traders found spot prices for West Texas
Intermediate crude oil, a U.S. benchmark, had reached the highest
levels in more than three months. Prices at Cushing, Oklahoma,
rose as high as $32 a barrel, up 16 percent from $27.63 yesterday,
Bloomberg data shows.

                             Oil Soars

     In London, oil rose to an eight-month high. Brent crude oil
for October settlement rose as much as 13 percent, or $3.60, to
$31.05 a barrel on the International Petroleum Exchange in London.
The IPE closed for an hour to catch up on trades that flooded its
settlement system. It will end trading at 5:45 p.m. London time.

     Blasts rocked the World Trade Center about 9 a.m. New York
time after a plane crashed into one of the towers. Minutes later,
another airliner was flown into the second tower.

     Workers leaped to their deaths from the buildings as flames
and smoke poured from the upper floors. One tower collapsed at 10
a.m. and the other fell at 10:28 a.m.

     While it's unclear who's behind the attacks, investors
speculated that it could involve people working for terrorist
groups operating from the Middle East.

     ``The fear factor is immense,'' said Shelley Mansfield,
energy manager at ADM Investor Services International in London.
``What the market is worried about is the escalation of Middle
East tensions and the U.S. backing of Israel.''