Natural Gas Week articles from December 2004

Natural Gas Week archives from December 2004

Natural gas weekly spot prices.
December 6, 2004... NATURAL GAS WEEKLY SPOT PRICES Flow Dates: 11/30-12-6 Avg. Avg. Dec. Price Daily Daily Bid Point $/MMBtu...

Enron's sudden, complex collapse reverberates in arrests, lawsuits.
December 6, 2004... Three years later, the shockwaves from Enron's collapse continue to reverberate around the country, at least partly because of the complexity inherent in the scandals that brought the company's house of cards crashing down. "We're looking...

Analyst: unconventional gas to improve US gas supply balance.
December 6, 2004... A sustained effort to drill onshore unconventional gas plays could be about to pay off and result in a modest reversal of a three-year-old downtrend in US gas production. The research team at Jefferies & Co. is forecasting that US dry gas...

Skepticism over EIA storage data crashes Nymex gas prices.
December 6, 2004... Natural gas end-users can be excused for being furious at how December bid-week trading played out, with baseload price indices for the month heavily influenced, and inflated, by what the industry now knows was bogus storage data. [GRAPHIC...

Activists prepare for fight over FERC authority to site terminals.
December 6, 2004... Activist groups like Ralph Nader's Public Citizen are seething over language added to an appropriations bill that states that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission can preempt states on the permitting and siting of liquefied natural gas...

Pact signed.(Late news)
December 6, 2004... Pact signed: Raleigh, North Carolina-based Progress Energy has signed a $3.3 billion 20-year natural gas agreement with Southern Natural Gas, Florida Gas Transmission and BG LNG services. The agreement is for an undisclosed amount of natural...

LNG terminal planned.(Late news)
December 6, 2004... LNG terminal planned: Calgary-based Galveston LNG has raised $42.02 million (C$50 million) in its bid to build a $420.20 million liquefied natural gas terminal in northwestern British Columbia. Company officials said the company hopes to raise...

Spending proposed.(Late news)
December 6, 2004... Spending proposed: Devon Energy will spend $67.23 million in the first year of a multi-year drilling program in the Beaufort Sea. The company said it has identified nine potential offshore drilling sites and a 10th on an island in Mason Bay....

Joint venture announced.(Late news)
December 6, 2004... Joint venture announced: GulfWest Energy and Allen Drilling Acquisition have formed a joint venture to be called Elgin Holdings. The new company was formed for the purpose of activating an inactive gas gathering system in Harding County, Texas,...

Chesapeake expands Barnett Shale position in $277 million deal.
December 6, 2004... Chesapeake Energy has expanded its position in the prolific Barnett Shale gas play in North Texas, agreeing to pay $277 million in cash to acquire the 18,000 acre North Block property in Johnson County from privately owned Hallwood Energy. ...

Intrastate weekly spot prices.
December 6, 2004... INTRASTATE WEEKLY SPOT PRICES Flow Dates: 11/30-12/6 Avg. Avg. Dec. Price Daily Daily Bid Point $/MMBtu Chg. High...

Williams ups reserves estimate to 4.3 Tcf, increases E&P budget.
December 6, 2004... Citing its success with unconventional natural gas production, the Williams Cos. last week almost doubled its estimate of proved reserves from 2.7 Tcf to 4.3 Tcf. The Tulsa, Oklahoma-based natural gas producer also announced plans to increase...

Prices and differentials for major hubs and selected city gates.
December 6, 2004... December 6, 2004 US$/MMBtu, Volume-Weighted [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SELECTED DAILY DIFFERENTIALS Differential 11/29 11/30 12/1 12/2 12/3 HH-NY +1.25 +0.47 +0.70 +0.58 +0.45 HH-Chicago +0.31 +0.33...

DOE funded test project to store C[O.sub.2] in Frio Formation begins.
December 6, 2004... About 30 miles from downtown Houston, a year-long experiment has started studying the possibility of geologic sequestration as a means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The plan, funded in part by the US Department of Energy, calls for...

Composite spot wellhead price.
December 6, 2004... COMPOSITE SPOT WELLHEAD PRICE January 2000 to Present ($/MMBtu) Year Jan. Feb. March April May June July August 2004 5.90 4.79 5.28 5.62 6.17 6.11 5.82 5.37 2003 5.15 6.91 7.14 4.94 5.48 5.63 4.87...

Otto sends 2004 storm season into overtime on final day.
December 6, 2004... The 2004 Atlantic hurricane season went into overtime Tuesday when Tropical Storm Otto formed east of Bermuda on the last official day of the season and fell apart two days later. Otto brought the number of named storms to 15 as the curtain...

LNG market sees quiet month; expanded Lake Charles to reopen.
December 6, 2004... Mixed signals from US natural gas prices and a lull in Far East demand made for a relatively quiet liquefied natural gas spot market during November. Industry estimates show only a slight increase in LNG exporter netbacks at US receiving...

Natural gas futures.
December 6, 2004... NATURAL GAS FUTURES Trading Dates: November 30 - December 3, 2004 NEW YORK MERCANTILE EXCHANGE (NYMEX) (HENRY HUB) Monday Tuesday Wednesday Last Volume Last Volume Last...

Survey: consumers hit with yet another increase in gas prices.
December 6, 2004... In the space of a year, natural gas prices have risen 4.35% according to a new survey by an independent consulting company headquartered in Park Ridge, New Jersey. The annual survey by NUS Consulting was released last week and covered the...

Chevron enters Alliance with Los Alamos National Laboratory.
December 6, 2004... One of the majors has teamed up with the Los Alamos National Laboratory in a strategic alliance to look at ways of developing new technologies that will benefit the energy industry. The partnership between Los Alamos and ChevronTexaco...

North American weekly gas storage: (billion cubic feet).
December 6, 2004... NORTH AMERICAN WEEKLY GAS STORAGE (Billion Cubic Feet) Nov. 26 Nov. 19 Weekly Year Yr. Ago Region Week Week Change Ago Change US East 1910 1915R -5 ...

Natural gas bidweek prices.
December 6, 2004... NATURAL GAS BIDWEEK PRICES Flow Dates: 12/1-12/31 Dec. Chg. Prev. Price Avg. from Bid Point $/MMBtu Prev....

Keeping LNG facilities just a little bit more in the dark.
December 6, 2004... Energy companies love to gussy up annual reports with pictures of their plants at night, lights ablaze. However, there's a new trend among engineers for kindler, gentler, less intrusive lighting that doesn't fill the sky with an orange glow....

NGW's monthly weighted averages.
December 6, 2004... NGW's MONTHLY WEIGHTED AVERAGES $/MMBtu Price Point Nov.'04 Oct.'04 Sep.'04 Aug.'04 Jul.'04 Gulf Coast ANR SE 5.61 6.08 4.80 5.37 5.82 Col. Gulf - Erath 5.96 ...

N[O.sub.x] falls, S[O.sub.2] rises, C[O.sub.2] on radar in 2004.(CURRENT)
December 6, 2004... Emission markets this year looked more like a hopscotch game based on fluctuating fundamentals rather than a tick-tacktoe game with clear winners and losers. Unlike unrelenting natural gas volatility, the nitrogen oxide (N[O.sub.X])...

Next generation gas turbines to hit US.(CURRENT)
December 6, 2004... Calpine will team with GE Energy to build the most advanced next generation, gas-fired turbine in the US. Combined-cycle plants convert exhaust from a gas turbine into steam to power a steam turbine, without using more fuel. The last round...

Cato castigates deregulation; system in dire need of overhaul.(CURRENT)
December 6, 2004... Present deregulation reforms should be abandoned for more aggressive deregulation, according to a report released by the Cato Institute, a Washington-based think tank. In its report Electricity Industry in Need of Deregulation, Cato said...

Cinergy issues GHG regulations report.(CURRENT)
December 6, 2004... Cinergy has fulfilled a promise to provide shareholders with a report on the potential impact of greenhouse gas (GHG) regulations on the company's generating business. In February, American Electric Power and Cinergy agreed to report...

Spot electricity trading.(CURRENT)
December 6, 2004... SPOT ELECTRICITY TRADING Trading Dates: November 29-December 3, 2004 NEW YORK MERCANTILE EXCHANGE (NYMEX) (HENRY HUB) Avg. Price Avg. Price This Last Year Month POINT ...

Capstone advances DG in New York state.(CURRENT)
December 6, 2004... Capstone Turbine, a manufacturer of microturbines, has opened a factory service center in New York to meet increased demand from existing and new customers. Distributed generation (DG) has seen progress in the post Aug. 14, 2003, blackout...

Comparative fuel prices.(CURRENT)
December 6, 2004... COMPARATIVE FUEL PRICES (Cash Market) December 6, 2004 APPALACHIA Appalachian Pool Ohio/Big Sandy River Coal Dlvd (Util) $58.50/ton $6.85/MMBtu $2.44/MMBtu EAST COAST New...

GOP pipeline plan banning open access has AGA members upset.(Regional Market Roundup)
December 6, 2004... The American Gas Association has expressed its displeasure with a proposal being floated by Senate Republicans to eliminate open-access transportation on interstate pipelines. In a letter to Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Arizona), AGA President Dave...

Baker Hughes rig count.(Regional Market Roundup)
December 6, 2004... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] BAKER HUGHES RIG COUNT Week Ended Dec. 3 Rotary Rigs Current Previous Year Week Week Ago Total US 1,245 1,251...

Gas price trends.(Regional Market Roundup)
December 6, 2004... GAS PRICE TRENDS ($/MMBtu) ROCKY NEW CALIFORNIA MTNS MEXICO South North Dec. 6, 2004 Inter (well) - - 6.29 6.24 Intra...

Canada's production treadmill speeding up to keep up in 2005.(Canadian Markets)
December 6, 2004... A new report by Canada's National Energy Board confirmed what most industry experts had already suspected: more drilling is needed in the coming years just to keep Canadian natural gas output flat. The NEB estimates that 17,900 wells will...

Jamaica and Trinidad ink LNG deal.(World Roundup)
December 6, 2004... After a long period of negotiations, Jamaica has finally signed an agreement to buy 1.1 million tons per year of liquefied natural gas from Trinidad starting in 2008. The LNG will be exported from a plant "that is yet to be constructed," said...

Russia, Brazil agree on energy pact.(World Roundup)
December 6, 2004... The governments of Russia and Brazil have signed cooperation agreements that could result in Russia's Gazprom building a natural gas liquefaction plant in the South American country, according to some Brazilian government officials. ...

Canadian price report.(World Roundup)
December 6, 2004... CANADIAN PRICE REPORT ($U.S. per MMBtu/$Con per Gigajoule) BRITISH COLUMBIA ALBERTA Huntingdon/ Kingsgate/ Total ...

Storage cycling never a factor behind surprising 49 Bcf draw.(World Roundup)
December 6, 2004... The Energy Information Administration has settled the cause behind a surprisingly bullish 49 Bcf storage draw for the week ended Nov. 19, stating Thursday that one or more companies submitted inaccurate data to the agency (see p1). In the...

Natural gas weekly spot prices.
December 13, 2004... NATURAL GAS WEEKLY SPOT PRICES Flow Dates: 12/7-12/13 Avg. Avg. Dec. Price Daily Daily Bid Point $/MMBtu...

Study: Rockies gas prices could see 50% drop from supply glut.
December 13, 2004... A price drop of as much as 50% for Rocky Mountain natural gas may be looming as soon as the end of 2005. That was the findings of a study released last week by Bentek Energy. Even the authors of the study said the findings caught them off...

Latest natural gas market snafu pushing industry to the edge.
December 13, 2004... The now infamous pre-Thanksgiving storage report has become the straw that broke the camel's back--a single mistake that has shown the vulnerability of the natural gas market, detractors say. Following the Energy Information...

Land rig sales rise across US as drilling companies reposition.
December 13, 2004... By many comparisons, it's not a lot of money involved--about $120 million. But that money represents a series of sales and acquisitions of land-based drilling rigs in the US since June. The small series of sales come at a time when analysts...

Winter finally kicks into gear spurring natural gas demand.
December 13, 2004... Physical gas markets broke out of their doldrums Friday as true winter cold begins to make its way into the eastern US markets this week. But questions over how long the cold may linger and the burden of huge storage surpluses staunched a real...

Devon takes plunge in Beaufort Sea, spurred by pipeline plans.
December 13, 2004... The success of a natural gas drilling program next winter in Canada's Far North by go-it-alone Devon Energy could very well determine whether a new--or at least renewed--frontier is opened on the frozen Beaufort Sea. An offshore well hasn't...

Energy head nominated.(Late news)
December 13, 2004... Energy head nominated: On Friday, President George W. Bush nominated Deputy Treasury Secretary Sam Bodman to replace Spencer Abraham, who resigned last month, as the country's next energy secretary, pending Senate approval. Before joining the...

Budget approved.(Late news)
December 13, 2004... Budget approved: Houston-based Mission Resources has approved a $71 million capital spending budget for 2005. The new budget is a 30% increase over the company's 2004 budget of $55 million. About 45% will be allocated to the Gulf Coast onshore...

Contract awarded.(Late news)
December 13, 2004... Contract awarded: UK-based Amec PLC and the Canadian firm of Black and McDonald have received a $77.51 million contract for the engineering and construction phase of Exxon Mobil's Sable Island natural gas project. The contract covers onshore...

LNG key to ConocoPhillip's North American gas strategy.
December 13, 2004... ConocoPhillips has a two-pronged approach for ensuring its North American gas markets have adequate supplies: liquefied natural gas imported from now stranded gas deposits overseas and pipeline deliveries from the Arctic Frontiers on Alaska's...

Intrastate weekly spot prices.
December 13, 2004... INTRASTATE WEEKLY SPOT PRICES Flow Dates: 12/7-12/13 Avg. Avg. Dec. Price Daily Daily Bid Point $/MMBtu Chg. High...

Prices and differentials for major hubs and selected city gates.
December 13, 2004... PRICES AND DIFFERENTIALS FOR MAJOR HUBS AND SELECTED CITY GATES December 13, 2004 US$/MMBtu, Volume-Weighted [GRAPHIC OMITTED] SELECTED DAILY DIFFERENTIALS Differential 12/6 12/7 12/8 12/9 12/10 HH-NY ...

Natural gas takes on greater significance for producer berry.
December 13, 2004... As a producer of heavy crude oil in California, Berry Petroleum has long consumed large volumes of natural gas, which it uses for steam injection to raise the oil's temperature and make it flow. But gas looks set to become a bigger part of...

North American weekly gas storage.
December 13, 2004... NORTH AMERICAN WEEKLY GAS STORAGE (Billion Cubic Feet) Dec. 3 Nov. 26 Weekly Year Yr. Ago 5-year 5-year Region Week Week Change Ago Change Average Change US East 1867 ...

Senate tackles 'looming' crisis in volatile natural gas markets.
December 13, 2004... Responding to public concern over highly volatile natural gas prices, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee called for a new slate of legislative proposals last week to help the country come to grips with what the committee itself...

Shell Canada discovers major gas field in Western Canada.
December 13, 2004... Shell Canada has announced a discovery in Western Canada that could be as large as 800 Bcf of natural gas, ranking it with the famous Caroline and Ladyfern discoveries. Late Wednesday, officials with Shell Canada said one of its...

Natural gas futures.
December 13, 2004... NATURAL GAS FUTURES Trading Dates: December 6-December 10, 2004 NEW YORK MERCANTILE EXCHANGE (NYMEX) (HENRY HUB) Monday Tuesday Wednesday Last Volume Last Volume Last...

Pipeline capacity utilization.
December 13, 2004... PIPELINE CAPACITY UTILIZATION Pipeline Point Name Capacity Nov-04 Colorado Interstate Gas Cheyenne 590,000 76% Columbia Gas Transmission Leach 2,218,000 58%...

Cato: abandon current course of deregulation.(CURRENT)
December 13, 2004... While the future of US electricity restructuring remains ambiguous, opinions about restructuring usually have a crystal clear, resounding ring. Most people fully support deregulation or strongly oppose it. But even within the two camps,...

CERI studies Ontario baseload options.(CURRENT)
December 13, 2004... The Canadian Energy Research Institute (CERI) recently said that replacing coal and nuclear baseload with natural gas in Ontario is uninviting because of persistently high natural gas costs. Baseload generation meets constant power demand...

Calpine lands federal contract serving Johnson Space Center.(CURRENT)
December 13, 2004... Calpine has garnered its first federal power-supply contract, giving the gas-fired generation company some footing for future bidding on government services. The nation's largest independent power producer (IPP) continues to build its...

EMPA: wind power won't displace oil.(CURRENT)
December 13, 2004... Wind energy proponents have used the mantra of energy security and recent historically high oil and natural gas prices to beat the drum of their clean energy refrain. But Energy Market & Policy Analysis, (EMPA), a Reston, Virginia-based...

Merrill Lynch favors dominion, Duke.(CURRENT)
December 13, 2004... A Merrill Lynch report highlights power companies poised for earnings growth because of high natural gas prices, including Dominion and Duke Energy. The report, A Hidden Energy Story, said Dominion and Duke have seen their deregulated...

Spot electricity trading.(CURRENT)
December 13, 2004... SPOT ELECTRICITY TRADING Trading Dates: December 6-December 10, 2004 NEW YORK MERCANTILE EXCHANGE (NYMEX) (HENRY HUB) Avg. Price Avg. Price This Last Year Month POINT ...

Comparative fuel prices.(CURRENT)
December 13, 2004... COMPARATIVE FUEL PRICES (Cash Market) December 13, 2004 APPALACHIA Appalachian Pool Ohio/Big Sandy River Coal Dlvd (Util) $58.00/ton $6.52/MMBtu $2.42/MMBtu EAST COAST...

Cove Point adds capacity as new tank is placed into service.(Regional Market Roundup)
December 13, 2004... Dominion has placed a fifth storage tank in service at its Cove Point liquefied natural gas terminal in Cove Point, Maryland. Company officials said the new tank increases on-site storage from 5 Bcf to 7.8 Bcf of natural gas. The new tank...

Baker Hughes rig count.(Regional Market Roundup)
December 13, 2004... BAKER HUGHES RIG COUNT Week Ended Dec. 10 Rotary Rigs Current Previous Year Week Week Ago Total US 1,250 1,245 1,109 Land ...

Gas price trends.(Regional Market Roundup)
December 13, 2004... GAS PRICE TRENDS ($/MMBtu) ROCKY NEW CALIFORNIA MTNS MEXICO TEXAS Gulf Coast Gulf Coast ...

Anadarko reaches stranded gas with complex drilling project.(Canadian Markets)
December 13, 2004... Anadarko Petroleum scored an engineering win last week by completing a complex drilling project that will now deliver stranded natural gas from a remote region in northeastern British Columbia. Mike Bridges, president of Anadarko Canada,...

Lehman: global E & P set to rise, strong commodity prices cited.(World Roundup)
December 13, 2004... Oil and gas companies' global spending on exploration and production (E & P) is set to rise by 5.7% in 2005, according to a survey of 327 companies published by Lehman Brothers. That would mark a reduction from an estimated increase of...

Canadian price report.(World Roundup)
December 13, 2004... CANADIAN PRICE REPORT ($U.S. per MMBtu/$Can per Gigajoule) BRITISH COLUMBIA Huntingdon/ Kingsgate/ Total Sumas ...

Despite occasional fumbles, storage report remains key.
December 13, 2004... For almost a decade, focus has only grown more intense on the weekly storage report, which has demonstrated its prowess as a market mover. The reason: storage tells us like nothing else the state of supply and demand. And any hint that...

Gas price report.
December 13, 2004... GAS PRICE REPORT ($/MMBtu--Spot) December 13, 2004 Interstate Intrastate Delivered Delivered Wellhead Wellhead To Pipeline To Utility Bid ...

Natural gas weekly spot prices.
December 20, 2004... NATURAL GAS WEEKLY SPOT PRICES Flow Dates: 12/14-12/20 Avg. Avg. Dec. Price Daily Daily Bid Point $/MMBtu...

Pressure builds to investigate spike in December gas prices.
December 20, 2004... Pressure is mounting on federal regulators to launch a formal investigation into the pre-Thanksgiving holiday price spike at settlement in the Nymex December gas futures contract which, according to one industry group, will cost US consumers $1...

Cheniere's Chevron LNG deal latest in string of successes.
December 20, 2004... Christmas came early for Cheniere Energy. Last week, the Houston-based company signed a 20-year capacity commitment with ChevronTexaco for 700 Mcf/d of regasification services at its planned Sabine Pass, Louisiana, liquefied natural gas...

Northeast prices surge to $10 on coming winter cold snap.
December 20, 2004... This week's storage report from the Energy Information Administration will go a long way toward measuring the demand potential from frigid weather this heating season, incorporating the first multi-region cold snap of the season. In addition,...

Energy head nominee Bodman no stranger to natural gas.
December 20, 2004... President Bush's choice for energy secretary, Samuel Wright Bodman, is a man of many hats: a chemical engineering graduate from Cornell University; a professor of chemical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and former...

Storage snafu.(Late news)
December 20, 2004... Storage snafu: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said Friday a clerk at Dominion Resources inadvertently clicked on the wrong file and submitted incorrect data to the Energy Information Administration, which massively inflated the EIA's...

Appointments named.(Late news)
December 20, 2004... Appointments named: California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger intends to appoint Dian Grueneich, a Democrat and energy and environmental law consultant, and Steve Poizner, a Republican and a high school government and economics teacher, to the...

Major discovery made.(Late news)
December 20, 2004... Major discovery made: BP Trinidad and Tobago has reported the discovery of a massive natural gas field off the east coast of Trinidad that could contain up to 2 Tcf. A BPTT spokesman said the well is located 50 miles off the coast and reached a...

Pipeline proposed.(Late news)
December 20, 2004... Pipeline proposed: Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips and BP have presented their proposal to Alaskan state officials for building a 4.5 Bcf/d-capacity natural gas pipeline from Alaska's North Slope to the lower-48 states. The $20 billion plan calls...

Noble, Patina deal caps busy year in Rockies M&A activity.
December 20, 2004... Deal-making in the Rocky Mountain region got off to a quick start earlier this year when Kerr-McGee and EnCana snapped up smaller Rockies rivals. A handful of other multi-billion-dollar deals quickly followed, but in the second half of the...

Prices and differentials for major hubs and selected city gates.
December 20, 2004... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] December 20, 2004 US$/MMBtu, Volume-Weighted SELECTED DAILY DIFFERENTIALS Differential 12/13 12/14 12/15 12/16 12/17 HH-NY +1.36 +2.06 +0.98 +0.84 +1.70 HH-Chicago +0.05 -0.06...

Intrastate weekly spot prices.
December 20, 2004... INTRASTATE WEEKLY SPOT PRICES Flow Dates: 12/14-12/20 Avg. Avg. Dec. Price Daily Daily Bid Point $/MMBtu Chg. High...