Posts Tagged ‘Coal’
April 25, 2014 | 
Author PIRA Energy Group’s Weekly Natural Gas, Power and Coal Market Recap for the Week Ending April 13th, 2014
New York, NY (PRWEB) April 16, 2014
NYC-based PIRA Energy Group reports that Russian supply cutoff via Ukraine is unlikely to happen. While In the U.S., the first EIA report of the injection season revealed a paltry 4 BCF build. Specifically, PIRA’s analysis of natural gas market fundamentals has revealed the following:
Russian Supply Cutoff via Ukraine Unlikely To Happen
The longer term implications of a Russian supply cutoff via Ukraine are so significant that PIRA still believes that it is unlikely to happen, even if now would be the ideal time – low seasonal gas demand and limited risk to Western Europe – to trigger it. If Russia’s mega-investment in pipeline gas to Asia were already built, that would be one thing, but the broader plans for such a grid outlined in this week’s Gazprom Investment Day presentation do not envision such a system until late 2019 at the earliest. The longstanding marriage between European gas demand and Russian gas export revenues is very much alive and well, and with it, a marital compromise will have to be reached with regard to how Ukraine’s debts will be paid in the future.
Paltry Stock Build
The first EIA report of the injection season revealed a paltry 4 BCF build, splitting the uprights between the five-year average 9 BCF build and the year-ago 25 BCF draw. Nevertheless, the indicated figure was well below consensus estimates that called for a build some 10 BCF higher, and was even below the low end of the market’s range. With the report’s lowball number unmasking inherently more bullish underlying fundamentals, the NYMEX prompt contract rallied ~15¢ on the news, erasing early-session losses on its way to an overall day-on-day gain of ~7¢ by settlement.
Jump in Price Volatility Is Emerging in Three Major Markets
In the three major regional gas markets around the world, a noticeable jump in price volatility is emerging after several years of near dormancy. In North America, higher prices are being driven by low storage coming out of winter and in Europe, lower prices are being driven by high storage coming out of winter. In Asia, second quarter spot prices have dropped roughly 20% over the past 90 days and it is all too clear that buyers of choice have replaced buyers of necessity during the seasonal dip in Asian gas demand.
NYC-based PIRA Energy Group reports that coal pricing is benefiting from strength in natural gas markets. While in the Europe, discussions on pricing of French nuclear power appears stalled. Specifically, PIRA’s analysis of electricity and coal market fundamentals has revealed the following:
Coal Pricing Benefiting from Strength in Natural Gas Markets
Seaborne coal prices moved higher across the board last week, although weaker dry bulk freight rates gave more upside momentum to FOB pricing points than CIF ones. The threat of Russia cutting off gas to and through Ukraine grabbed headlines last week, sending NBP gas prices higher. The oil market also ticked up last week, and coal pricing followed suit. Coal specific fundamentals remain weak overall, with robust supply and sluggish demand growth.
The Costs of the French Nuclear Power Being Discussed
The discussion around the price of the ARENH (Regulated access to historical nuclear electricity) appears to have stalled. Set to be released by the end of March 2014, the decree updating the price of EDF’s nuclear power allocated to its competitors appears to be slated to be published only during the summer, leaving a big regulatory vacuum for large volumes of electricity at a time when the French electricity supply/demand balances are looking considerably bearish.
The information above is part of PIRA Energy Group’s weekly Energy Market Recap, which alerts readers to PIRA’s current analysis of energy markets around the world as well as the key economic and political factors driving those markets.
Click here for additional information on PIRA’s global energy commodity market research services.
PIRA Energy Group
3 Park Avenue, 26th Floor
New York, NY 10016
212-686-6808
sales(at)pira(dot)com
Follow us on LinkedIn& Twitter
How will crude oil trade flows evolve? What will determine the volume of U.S. product exports?
Click to view PIRA’s new multi client study: Shale Crude’s Growing Global Impact: Consequences for Trade Flows and Pricing Within and Beyond North America’s Borders
©Copyright 1997-
, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Patriot Coal Corporation Confirms Plan of Reorganization and Emerges from Bankruptcy
New York, NY (PRWEB) December 20, 2013
Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP (“Kramer Levin”) has announced that on December 17, 2013 the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri confirmed the Plan of Reorganization of Patriot Coal Corporation and its 100 subsidiaries (the “Company”). The following day, on December 18, 2013, Patriot successfully emerged from Chapter 11 by, among other things, closing an exit financing for $ 545 million and raising $ 250 million from the issuance of new notes and warrants to Knighthead Capital Management, LLC and other participating unsecured creditors (case# 12-51502).
The firm represented the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors (the “Creditors’ Committee”). The Creditors’ Committee’s members included bond trustee Wilmington Trust Company, bond trustee U.S. Bank National Association, The United Mine Workers of America, United Mine Workers of America 1974 Pension Plan and Trust and American Electric Power Company, Inc. The Creditors’ Committee was also represented by local counsel, Carmody MacDonald PC, conflicts counsel, Cole, Schotz, Meisel, Forman & Leonard, P.A., and the financial advisory firms of Houlihan Lokey Capital, Inc. and Mesirow Financial Consulting, LLC.
Patriot Coal Corporation is a leading producer and marketer of coal in the eastern United States, with 10 active mining complexes in Appalachia and the Illinois Basin and 1.8 billion tons of coal reserves. The Company filed for bankruptcy protection in July 2012 with approximately $ 3.1 billion in liabilities.
Over the course of the 18 month bankruptcy, Kramer Levin, on behalf of the Creditors’ Committee, was the principal advocate for unsecured creditors on all major facets of the case, including, among other things, a lengthy trial related to the Company’s motions to reduce its active employee compensation and retiree healthcare benefits and an investigation of claims against Peabody Energy Corporation and Arch Coal, Inc. related to retiree healthcare benefit liabilities exceeding $ 1.3 billion.
Through the restructuring process, approximately 4,000 jobs were preserved and the Company exited chapter 11 with an improved balance sheet, new five-year labor agreements with the UMWA, and settlements with Peabody Energy Corporation and Arch Coal, Inc. which provide significant funding for retiree healthcare benefits.
The Kramer Levin team on this matter included Corporate Restructuring partners Thomas Moers Mayer, Adam C. Rogoff and P. Bradley O’Neill; Employee Benefits partner Christine Lutgens; Environmental partner Charles S. Warren; Corporate partner David J. Fisher; Litigation partner Jonathan Wagner; Corporate Restructuring special counsel Gregory G. Plotko; Litigation special counsel Brendan M. Schulman; Corporate Restructuring associates Daniel M. Eggermann, David Blabey, Anupama Yerramalli, Andrew Dove and Stephen M. Blank; Corporate associates Jonathan B. Vessey and Steven Segal; and Litigation associate Joel Taylor.
The Carmody MacDonald PC team included partners Gregory D. Willard and Angela L. Schisler; the Cole, Schotz, Meisel, Forman & Leonard, P.A. team included partners Stuart Komrower and Roger Iorio; the Houlihan Lokey Capital, Inc. team included Matthew Mazzucchi, Fredrick Vescio, Daniel Tobin and Sanjeev Shahani; and the Mesirow Financial Consulting, LLC team included Larry Lattig, Monty Kehl and Adriana Vidal.
About Kramer Levin’s Corporate Restructuring and Bankruptcy Department: Kramer Levin’s bankruptcy practice’s accomplishments have been widely recognized. The Department was named one of Law360’s “Top Practice Groups of 2012,” one of only five bankruptcy practice firms selected for this honor. It was also awarded “Law Firm of the Year” by the 2012-2013 U.S. News and World Report “Best Law Firm Rankings.” The practice was also listed as one of the country’s best in Chambers USA and Legal 500 and one of the best in the United States by International Financial Law Review. Several partners in the practice were recently recognized by Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, Lawdragon, Turnarounds & Workouts and M&A Advisor.
Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP is a premier, full-service law firm with offices in New York, Silicon Valley and Paris. Firm lawyers are leading practitioners in their respective fields. The firm represents Global 1000 and emerging growth companies, institutions and individuals, across a broad range of industries. For more information, please visit http://www.kramerlevin.com.
©Copyright 1997-
, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Posted in Industries & Professions | 
Tags: Bankruptcy, Coal, Confirms, Corporation, Emerges, from, Patriot, Plan, Reorganization | 
3 Comments »
Patriot Coal Corporation Confirms Plan of Reorganization and Emerges from Bankruptcy
New York, NY (PRWEB) December 20, 2013
Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP (“Kramer Levin”) has announced that on December 17, 2013 the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri confirmed the Plan of Reorganization of Patriot Coal Corporation and its 100 subsidiaries (the “Company”). The following day, on December 18, 2013, Patriot successfully emerged from Chapter 11 by, among other things, closing an exit financing for $ 545 million and raising $ 250 million from the issuance of new notes and warrants to Knighthead Capital Management, LLC and other participating unsecured creditors (case# 12-51502).
The firm represented the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors (the “Creditors’ Committee”). The Creditors’ Committee’s members included bond trustee Wilmington Trust Company, bond trustee U.S. Bank National Association, The United Mine Workers of America, United Mine Workers of America 1974 Pension Plan and Trust and American Electric Power Company, Inc. The Creditors’ Committee was also represented by local counsel, Carmody MacDonald PC, conflicts counsel, Cole, Schotz, Meisel, Forman & Leonard, P.A., and the financial advisory firms of Houlihan Lokey Capital, Inc. and Mesirow Financial Consulting, LLC.
Patriot Coal Corporation is a leading producer and marketer of coal in the eastern United States, with 10 active mining complexes in Appalachia and the Illinois Basin and 1.8 billion tons of coal reserves. The Company filed for bankruptcy protection in July 2012 with approximately $ 3.1 billion in liabilities.
Over the course of the 18 month bankruptcy, Kramer Levin, on behalf of the Creditors’ Committee, was the principal advocate for unsecured creditors on all major facets of the case, including, among other things, a lengthy trial related to the Company’s motions to reduce its active employee compensation and retiree healthcare benefits and an investigation of claims against Peabody Energy Corporation and Arch Coal, Inc. related to retiree healthcare benefit liabilities exceeding $ 1.3 billion.
Through the restructuring process, approximately 4,000 jobs were preserved and the Company exited chapter 11 with an improved balance sheet, new five-year labor agreements with the UMWA, and settlements with Peabody Energy Corporation and Arch Coal, Inc. which provide significant funding for retiree healthcare benefits.
The Kramer Levin team on this matter included Corporate Restructuring partners Thomas Moers Mayer, Adam C. Rogoff and P. Bradley O’Neill; Employee Benefits partner Christine Lutgens; Environmental partner Charles S. Warren; Corporate partner David J. Fisher; Litigation partner Jonathan Wagner; Corporate Restructuring special counsel Gregory G. Plotko; Litigation special counsel Brendan M. Schulman; Corporate Restructuring associates Daniel M. Eggermann, David Blabey, Anupama Yerramalli, Andrew Dove and Stephen M. Blank; Corporate associates Jonathan B. Vessey and Steven Segal; and Litigation associate Joel Taylor.
The Carmody MacDonald PC team included partners Gregory D. Willard and Angela L. Schisler; the Cole, Schotz, Meisel, Forman & Leonard, P.A. team included partners Stuart Komrower and Roger Iorio; the Houlihan Lokey Capital, Inc. team included Matthew Mazzucchi, Fredrick Vescio, Daniel Tobin and Sanjeev Shahani; and the Mesirow Financial Consulting, LLC team included Larry Lattig, Monty Kehl and Adriana Vidal.
About Kramer Levin’s Corporate Restructuring and Bankruptcy Department: Kramer Levin’s bankruptcy practice’s accomplishments have been widely recognized. The Department was named one of Law360’s “Top Practice Groups of 2012,” one of only five bankruptcy practice firms selected for this honor. It was also awarded “Law Firm of the Year” by the 2012-2013 U.S. News and World Report “Best Law Firm Rankings.” The practice was also listed as one of the country’s best in Chambers USA and Legal 500 and one of the best in the United States by International Financial Law Review. Several partners in the practice were recently recognized by Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, Lawdragon, Turnarounds & Workouts and M&A Advisor.
Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP is a premier, full-service law firm with offices in New York, Silicon Valley and Paris. Firm lawyers are leading practitioners in their respective fields. The firm represents Global 1000 and emerging growth companies, institutions and individuals, across a broad range of industries. For more information, please visit http://www.kramerlevin.com.
©Copyright 1997-
, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Find More Industries & Professions Press Releases
Posted in Industries & Professions | Tags: Bankruptcy, Coal, Confirms, Corporation, Emerges, from, Patriot, Plan, Reorganization | 3 Comments »