ETE CEO Kelsey Warren Says Williams Merger “Can’t Close”
Last year midstream giant Energy Transfer Equity and its CEO Kelsy Warren pursued Williams, for months, and finally got Williams to agree to a deal to sell itself to Warren for $38 billion (see Williams Accepts ETE’s “Indecent Proposal” – Price Went Down $10B). Over the following months, the gas market tanked price-wise, and Warren got cold feet (see ETE Wants Out of Williams Merger/Takeover, Offering $2B Breakup Fee). Then he wanted to change the deal, making it an all stock-swap deal instead of having to pony up billions in cash–because of tax implications. Along the way Warren got his board to issue a sweetheart stock deal to himself and other top managers/investors as a hedge against the deal, which enraged Williams (see Merger Turns Sour: Williams Sues ETE/CEO Kelcy Warren). On a quarterly earnings call yesterday, ETE’s top brass addressed the Williams merger controversy. CEO Kelsy Warren said point blank: “I’d like to be really direct about this. We can’t close. We don’t have a transaction that can close. So I want to be very clear: We can’t close this transaction … So, absent a substantial restructuring of this transaction — which Energy Transfer has … been very willing and … actually desiring to do — absent that, we don’t have a deal.” Apparently the deal as proposed by Warren, with a cash component, will be taxable in ways he didn’t plan–so he either wants Williams to accept a stock swap, or bail from the deal. Here’s what was said on yesterday’s phone conference…
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According to new numbers just released by our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), fracked wells (most of them shale wells) now produce two-thirds of the natural gas produced in the United States. And the U.S. produces the most natural gas of any country on Mom Earth. Even so, Crazy Bernie and Hillary have both pledged to shut it all down (yes, we believe them, they would do it). Here’s the EIA’s story of how the miracle of hydraulic fracturing has taken over in the U.S.–a miracle we can continue if we don’t elect radicals to high office…
A group of radical/leftist environmental groups have just launched their latest “sue and settle” case against the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). For a description of the despicable practice of sue and settle, where our own government colludes with these groups in a faux lawsuit which “forces” an agency to do what it wanted to do but couldn’t otherwise under existing laws, see this MDN story: 
Hey, it’s tough out there in the oil and gas patch. Something like 200,000+ workers in the industry have been laid off in the past year and a half. Now, somebody wants to do something about it. 
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: PA energy advisor moves from gov to PUC; PA lawmakers attempt to stop new o&g drilling regs; energy infrastructure in New England badly needs an update; new underground storage rules coming from the feds; is fracking as dirty as coal?; what the failed Halliburton/BH deal means for the oil service industry; skeptics mock White House “support” for natgas; and more!
There was an explosion and fire in Spectra Energy’s Texas Eastern Transmission’s (TETCO) “Delmont Line 27” pipeline last Friday (see 
The muckety-mucks from Shell held their quarterly earnings phone call with analysts yesterday–and there is what we consider big news to report coming from that call. In response to a question from an analyst, Shell’s Chief Financial Officer, Simon Henry, commented there are four major “chemicals” projects currently under consideration by Shell. He also said a decision on the PA cracker plant project planned in Beaver County will likely be the first decision to be made because of “the timing of certain commitments that are already in place.” He added these glowing words about the PA cracker: “It’s an excellent project…[that] provides quite some portfolio resilience relative to the rest of the opportunities.” He later said “It’s a very strong and robust project.” If the price of oil were higher than the current $40, pulling the trigger on the PA cracker would be “a very easy decision.” When you read his comments, it’s hard to miss the enthusiasm at the highest echelons inside Shell…
It’s only been one year since Thailand-based PTT Global Chemical announced they are interested in building a $5 billion ethane cracker plant complex in Belmont County, OH (see 
As we do every month, MDN tracks how many rigs oilfield services company Patterson-UTI Energy reports operating–as a proxy for when/if the drop in rig counts for the Marcellus/Utica will turn around. Patterson operates a number of rigs in the northeast, as well as other areas of the continental United States (and Canada). Month by month Paterson’s rig count has declined over the past year plus. April was no different. Patterson reports operating an average of 56 rigs in April, versus 64 in March–a big 12.5% drop and a new low. Once again we ask, how low can it go? Below is our running Patterson-UTI rig count chart that shows the sad story…
In March MDN reported that Canadian midstream giant TransCanada wants a bigger piece of the Marcellus/Utica midstream (i.e. pipeline) pie and has decided to buy Columbia Pipeline Group for $10 billion (see