By early 1993, the buzz about Teesside had helped generate a near frenzy in Europe about gas’s rosy prospects, setting in motion what was dubbed “the dash for gas.” It was at that very moment, with prices near their peak, that Enron signed a long-term contract to take another 260 million cubic feet of gas per day, starting in 1996, from North Sea fields known as J-Block. That was enough gas to fill the rest of the pipeline capacity that Enron had reserved, giving the company twice as much as it needed for Teesside. Here’s the most astonishing part, though: the J-Block purchase, negotiated with
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