A fight for Citgo, Sunnova goes public, warbler to rescue
Maduro seeking to take back Citgo
Embattled Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro,who has consolidated power following a challenge by opposition leader Juan Guaidó earlier this year, is seeking to regain control of the economically ravaged country’s most prized foreign asset: Houstonbased Citgo Petroleum. The future of the eighthlargest oil refiner in the United States is at stake as directors appointed by Maduro ask a Delaware court to oust the board named by Guaidó’s opposition government and return control to them.
Kinder Morgan plans LNG pipeline
Houston pipeline operator Kinder Morgan said it will route its newest natural gas pipeline project from West Texas to East Texas, where it will support the burgeoning liquefied natural gas industry expanding along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast. In a call with investors, Kinder Morgan CEO Steven Kean said the exact route for the proposed Permian Pass Pipeline is still being researched, but it will begin in the Permian Basin and move 2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day to LNG export terminals along the Sabine River.
Pipeline opponents turning to warblers
After a defeat in court, opponents of a $2 billion natural gas pipeline though the Texas Hill Country are turning to an endangered songbird to halt the project. The Hays County Commissioners Court voted to join a challenge under the Endangered Species Act, arguing that Kinder Morgan’s proposed Permian Highway Pipeline would destroy habitat of the golden-cheeked warbler. With an estimated population of 27,000 n the wild, the endangered songbird nests in the dense juniper woodlands of the Texas Hill Country but winters in the jungles of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.
Callon to acquire Carrizo for $1.2B
Callon Petroleum said it will acquire Carrizo Oil & Gas at a price tag of more than $1.2 billion in a combination of two Houston oil producers. The deal is a merger of near-equals focused exclusively on Texas shale oil and gas in the booming Permian Basin and the Eagle Ford shale. The all-stock deal, which offers Carrizo shareholders a 25 percent premium, will leave Callon stockholders with a 54 percent stake and Carrizo investors with 46 percent.
Sunnova files IPO, aims to raise $319M
Sunnova Energy, the Houston company that sells and installs residential solar systems, recently filed an initial public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission to raise as much as $319.1 million by selling stock on public exchanges. The company, which was founded seven years ago in an apartment in downtown Houston, has grown to 63,000 customers in more than 20 states. Sunnova said it intended to use the money to pay down debt and expand the home solar business, including internationally.
Icahn names slate for Oxy’s board
Activist investor Carl Icahn revealed the four people he wants to appoint to the board of Occidental Petroleum as part of his proxy war with the Houston oil and gas producer. Icahn named former Shell Oil President John Hofmeister and three of Icahn’s close business allies in his bid to replace nearly half of the Oxy board, according to a filing with the SEC. Icahn is waging the proxy fight because of his opposition to Oxy’s pending $38 billion acquisition to The Woodlands-based Anadarko Petroleum.