Natural Gas Week articles from December 2005

Natural Gas Week archives from December 2005

Natural gas weekly spot prices.
December 5, 2005... NATURAL GAS WEEKLY SPOT PRICES Flow Dates: 11/29-12/5 Avg. Avg. Dec. Price Daily Daily Bid Point $/MMBtu Chg....

Greens vowing to continue fight against Long Beach LNG project.
December 5, 2005... Citing federal authority, the California Public Utilities Commission has quietly backed out of the fight over a proposed LNG terminal at Long Beach, California. "But the fight is hardly over," said Rory Cox with Pacific Environment, one of...

CEOs duck Wisconsin hearing, surrogates grilled on gas prices.
December 5, 2005... Although subpoenaed energy industry chiefs refused to appear at his hearing last Thursday, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle remains adamant that oil and natural gas companies should not only explain to the people of his state why prices for gasoline...

First Polar Pig has market bulls savoring higher cash, futures.
December 5, 2005... With the first blast of truly cold winter temperatures bearing down across much of the country this week, cash market prices for natural gas are likely to see some serious upside activity, which will unquestionably add support to the bullish...

Choppy winter forecasts suggest healthy 1 Tcf end to drawdown.
December 5, 2005... It's that time of the year again. Temperatures are dropping, furnaces are cranking and heating bills are rising. It's the perfect trifecta for gas futures market bulls to start licking their chops for weather-related rallies. However, the major...

Capacity increase.(Late news ...)
December 5, 2005... Capacity increase: Chevron Global Gas said Friday it will exercise its option to increase capacity at Cheniere Energy's Sabine Pass LNG terminal from 700 MMcf/d to 1 Bcf/d. The option was part of the original agreement Chevron signed with...

Tankers chartered.(Late news ...)
December 5, 2005... Tankers chartered: Shell and Golar of Norway, announced Friday a five-year agreement for the charter of three LNG tankers. Shell Tankers (UK) Ltd. will charter the Golar Viking built in 2004 and the new builds Golar Asia and Hull 2234, which is...

New rig class.(Late news ...)
December 5, 2005... New rig class: The Rowan Cos. in Houston announced Friday plans to build two new jack-up rigs for their offshore fleet to help replace fleet losses from Hurricane Rita. The two rigs will be a new design called the LeTourneau 240C with each rig...

Sale closed.(Late news ...)
December 5, 2005... Sale closed: Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Oneok Inc. has completed the $356 million sale of natural gas gathering and processing assets in Texas to Houston-based Eagle Rock Energy. The original deal was announced Oct. 11. An official with Oneok said...

DOE official briefs roundtable on problems facing GOM recovery.(Panel Discussion)
December 5, 2005... With high natural gas prices taking its toll on industry and the threat of the winter heating season pressing down, many are concerned about a "return to normal" in the Gulf of Mexico where production is still recovering from Hurricanes Katrina...

Intrastate weekly spot prices.
December 5, 2005... INTRASTATE WEEKLY SPOT PRICES Flow Dates: 11/29-12/5 Avg. Avg. Dec. Price Daily Daily Bid Point $/MMBtu Chg. High...

Marathon helps to pave new LNG paradigm for Equatorial Guinea.
December 5, 2005... With the development of its LNG installation in Equatorial Guinea (EG), Marathon Oil is attempting to ensure that the hydrocarbon wealth that is created will benefit all of the country's approximately one million residents and, with the close...

Prices and differentials for major hubs and selected city gates.
December 5, 2005... December 5, 2005 US$/MMBtu, Volume-Weighted [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SELECTED DAILY DIFFERENTIALS Differential 11/28 11/29 11/30 12/1 12/2 HH-NY +0.44 +0.39 +0.82 +1.16 +0.81 HH-Chicago -0.55 -0.35...

Syntroleum to begin field test for syngas program in January.
December 5, 2005... The Syntroleum Corp. will kick off the new year with the start of a six-month test of its Fischer-Tropsch catalyst using synthetic natural gas produced from coal known as syngas. The Tulsa, Oklahoma-based company has been testing its...

Texas independents Parallel, Abraxas up 2006 spending plans.
December 5, 2005... Optimism was the key word this past week as two Texas independents announced major increases in their 2006 capital spending plans over their 2005 budgets. Midland, Texas-based Parallel Petroleum said it has budgeted $103.7 million for...

Composite spot wellhead price.
December 5, 2005... COMPOSITE SPOT WELLHEAD PRICE January 2001 to Present ($/MMBtu) Year Jan. Feb. March April May June July August Sept. Oct. 2005 6.05 5.99 6.77 6.99 6.26 6.91 7.50 8.99 11.24 12.32 2004 5.90 4.79 5.28...

Stripped of voting rights, Nymex members threaten action on deal.
December 5, 2005... Several seat holders of the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) are furious about what they believe is a plan by the board of the world's largest energy bourse to deny them rights to vote for directors of their choice. The seat holders...

Natural gas futures.
December 5, 2005... NATURAL GAS FUTURES Trading Dates: November 28 -- December 2, 2005 NEW YORK MERCANTILE EXCHANGE (NYMEX) (HENRY HUB) Monday Tuesday Wednesday Last Volume Last Volume...

Third quarter filings a mixed bag for energy companies.
December 5, 2005... Energy companies across North America had a mixed bag of results with their third-quarter financial statements. Some of the companies are continuing to feel the impacts of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in terms of lost production from rigs...

North American weekly gas storage.
December 5, 2005... NORTH AMERICAN WEEKLY GAS STORAGE (Billion Cubic Feet) Nov. 25 Nov. 18 Weekly Year Yr. Ago 5-year 5-year Region Week Week Change Ago Change Average Change US East 1896 ...

Natural gas bidweek prices.
December 5, 2005... NATURAL GAS BIDWEEK PRICES Flow Dates: 12/1-12/31 December Chg. Prev. Price Avg. from Bid- Point $/MMBtu Prev....

NGW's monthly weighted averages.
December 5, 2005... NGW'S MONTHLY WEIGHTED AVERAGES $/MMBtu Price Point Nov.'05 Oct.'05 Sep.'05 Aug.'05 Jul.'05 Gulf Coast ANR SE 9.33 13.24 11.46 8.90 7.40 Col. Gulf - Erath 10.31 13.55...

Calpine faces change or crash amid cash crisis.(CURRENT)
December 5, 2005... Calpine is in crisis after its board of directors ousted the company's two top executives during a debt and litigation tussle that turned tumultuous last week. The brawl pitted Calpine's former leadership against its bondholders over the...

NorthWestern in takeover fight; utility snubs $1.1B all-cash deal.(CURRENT)
December 5, 2005... A combined electric and natural gas utility serving 617,000 households, in Montana, Nebraska and South Dakota may seem an unlikely target for a takeover battle, but that is where NorthWestern Corp. of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, finds itself....

Industry seeks to catch energy wave.(CURRENT)
December 5, 2005... Ocean Power Technologies recently deployed its 40-kW PowerBuoy technology off the Hawaiian and New Jersey coasts in a pilot project to collect data for larger wave energy farms in the future. The PowerBuoy uses the bobbing motion of a buoy to...

Spot electricity trading.(CURRENT)
December 5, 2005... SPOT ELECTRICITY TRADING Trading Dates: November 28-December 2, 2005 NEW YORK MERCANTILE EXCHANGE (NYMEX) (HENRY HUB) Avg. Price Avg. Price This Last Year Month POINT ...

Comparative fuel prices.(CURRENT)
December 5, 2005... COMPARATIVE FUEL PRICES (Cash Market) December 5, 2005 APPALACHIA Appalachian Pool Ohio/Big Sandy River Coal Dlvd (Util) $56.75/ton $12.32/MMBtu $2.36/MMBtu EAST COAST ...

Northeast firms join demand response.(CURRENT)
December 5, 2005... EnerNOC, a technology firm that helps companies reduce power use, said last week it has made available 100 MW of demand response capacity from commercial, institutional, and industrial end-users for New England this winter. Demand response...

Alaskan companies unveil plans advancing gasification project.(Regional Market Roundup)
December 5, 2005... High-priced natural gas is making coal gasification an increasingly economic alternative, and two Alaskan enterprises are teaming up on a gasification project to feed fertilizer plants and a power plant on the Kenai Peninsula, one of the...

Baker Hughes rig count.(Regional Market Roundup)
December 5, 2005... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] BAKER HUGHES RIG COUNT Week Ended Dec. 2 Rotary Rigs Current Previous Year Week Week Ago Total US 1,460 1,491...

Gas price trends.(Regional Market Roundup)
December 5, 2005... GAS PRICE TRENDS ($/MMBtu) ROCKY NEW CALIFORNIA MTNS MEXICO South North Dec 5, 2005 Inter (well) - - 9.86 9.67 ...

Tight gas a natural in Western Canada while prices stay high.(Canadian Markets)
December 5, 2005... Higher prices, combined with improved and less costly technology are making Canada's tight-gas formations as attractive to operators north of the 49th parallel as they are to producers to the south, concludes a newly released study by...

Qatargas outage drags on, scrub column cracks sideline Train 1.(World Roundup)
December 5, 2005... Outages at Qatargas' Train 1 that have reduced deliveries to Spain and possibly elsewhere since October could last well into December, adding to ongoing global LNG market tightness. Technical problems in Train 1 started in early October,...

Canadian price report.(World Roundup)
December 5, 2005... CANADIAN PRICE REPORT ($U.S. per MMBtu/$Can per Gigajoule) BRITISH COLUMBIA Huntingdon/ Kingsgate/ Total Sumas ...

Gulf recovery could stagnate as hot pipes cool off this winter.(World Roundup)
December 5, 2005... With the promise of more prolonged winter cold finally arriving in the major eastern US markets, a small time bomb is ticking that could further complicate post-Rita-Katrina gas production. The catalyst is not unusual; issues with respect...

Natural gas weekly spot prices.
December 12, 2005... NATURAL GAS WEEKLY SPOT PRICES Flow Dates: 12/6-12/12 Avg. Avg. Dec. Price Daily Daily Bid Point $/MMBtu...

Exxon, Alaska near gas pipeline deal; lateral may feed Anchorage.
December 12, 2005... Exxon Mobil's participation has long been viewed as being critical to the construction of a pipeline from Alaska's North Slope to the US lower 48 states. Industry veterans observing the efforts to develop a transportation system for the 35 Tcf...

Light hedge fund activity puts locals in futures driver's seat.
December 12, 2005... With record profits already on the books of many energy commodity hedge funds, many decided to close out the year a few weeks ago and lock in gains. However, as the funds participation and influence in the markets has waned, the door has been...

Combo of bearish signals cloud market direction despite cold.
December 12, 2005... Even in light of last week's record high Nymex gas futures prices, things don't seem as bullish as they might appear considering a much larger and faster return of Gulf production, evidence of a large loss in industrial and residential gas...

Industry: high heating costs to cause government policy shift.
December 12, 2005... Energy industry leaders predict that when Americans start receiving much higher home heating bills this winter, they will demand that Congress take steps to bring down energy prices, including drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge...

Spending forecast released.(Late news ...)
December 12, 2005... Spending forecast released: In their 2006 E&P Spending Survey, analysts with Lehman Brothers are forecasting worldwide exploration and production expenditures will have a major rise in the new year. The survey concluded that the 325 oil and gas...

LNG plant bought.(Late news ...)
December 12, 2005... LNG plant bought: Seal Beach, California-based Clean Energy has bought the Willis LNG Plant in Willis, Texas, for $14 million from Applied LNG Technologies. The Willis plant, located about 60 miles north of Houston, can produce up to 100,000...

House panel clears legislation on natgas market manipulation.
December 12, 2005... A House of Representatives panel took a major step last week to crack down on manipulation in the natural gas futures market and protect consumers when it approved a legislative provision that seeks to bring greater transparency and federal...

Devon posts reserve additions; significantly lowers F&D costs.
December 12, 2005... Devon Energy appears to have rediscovered the knack of finding and developing new oil and gas reserves at costs that compare favorably with those of other large independent producers. The Oklahoma City-based independent--the fourth largest...

Intrastate weekly spot prices.
December 12, 2005... INTRASTATE WEEKLY SPOT PRICES Flow Dates: 12/6-12/12 Avg. Avg. Dec. Price Daily Daily Bid Point $/MMBtu Chg....

Petrol Oil and Gas to begin CBM drilling in Kansas' Coal Creek.
December 12, 2005... Las Vegas-based Petrol Oil and Gas said it was betting on a sure thing last week when it announced a $10 million spending plan for its Coal Creek coalbed methane project in southeast Kansas. The Coal Creek project is located on 82,000 acres...

Prices and differentials for major hubs and selected city gates.
December 12, 2005... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] December 12, 2005 US$/MMBtu, Volume-Weighted SELECTED DAILY DIFFERENTIALS Differential 12/5 12/6 12/7 12/8 12/9 HH-NY +1.51 +1.37 +1.80 +1.54 +1.04 HH-Chicago -0.14 +0.18...

TRC pushing producers to use its informal complaint process.
December 12, 2005... The Texas Railroad Commission is encouraging producers locked in disputes with gas gatherers and intrastate pipelines to take advantage of the arbitration services available through the agency's informal complaint process. Industry...

North American weekly gas storage.
December 12, 2005... NORTH AMERICAN WEEKLY GAS STORAGE (Billion Cubic Feet) Dec. 2 Nov. 25 Weekly Year Yr. Ago 5-year 5-year Region Week Week Change Ago Change Average Change US East 1862 1896...

Mining provisions, changes to 1872 law at center of debate.
December 12, 2005... Environmentalists are concerned that a piece of proposed mining legislation tucked into the House version of the budget reconciliation bill could threaten millions of acres of public land in the West. At risk, say the groups, are national...

Chevron boosts capital budget, sets $14.8 billion spending plan.
December 12, 2005... Chevron's capital spending is approaching supermajor level. The California-based oil major said Thursday it plans to spend $14.8 billion in 2006, a 35% rise from anticipated 2005 expenditures of $11 billion. At $14.8 billion, Chevron's...

Natural gas futures.
December 12, 2005... NATURAL GAS FUTURES Trading Dates: December 5 - December 9, 2005 NEW YORK MERCANTILE EXCHANGE (NYMEX) (HENRY HUB) Monday Tuesday Wednesday Last Volume Last Volume...

Pipeline capacity utilization.
December 12, 2005... PIPELINE CAPACITY UTILIZATION Pipeline Point Name Capacity Nov-05 Oct-05 Sep-05 Colorado Interstate Cheyenne 590,000 88% 91% 94% Gas Columbia Gas Leach 2,218,000...

Nerc: North American winter reliability good.(CURRENT)
December 12, 2005... Notwithstanding unforeseen fuel supply or delivery constraints this winter, electricity capacity should be adequate to meet demand throughout North America, according to the North American Electric Reliability Council (Nerc). "However, a...

Calpine continues fight to stave off demands; delisted from NYSE.(CURRENT)
December 12, 2005... Calpine continued to ride its debt wave last week. And while some analysts expect that wave to crash, Calpine is fighting back. Because of its credit quandary, Calpine was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange last week and started...

Spot electricity trading.(CURRENT)
December 12, 2005... SPOT ELECTRICITY TRADING Trading Dates: December 5-December 9, 2005 NEW YORK MERCANTILE EXCHANGE (NYMEX) (HENRY HUB) Avg. Price Avg. Price This Last Year Month POINT ...

Comparative fuel prices.(CURRENT)
December 12, 2005... COMPARATIVE FUEL PRICES (Cash Market) December 12, 2005 APPALACHIA Appalachian Pool Ohio/Big Sandy River Coal Dlvd (Util) $58.00/ton $14.75/MMBtu $2.42/MMBtu EAST COAST ...

Two Gulf gas fields go back up; third still out due to storms.(Regional Market Roundup)
December 12, 2005... Production at two Gulf of Mexico natural gas fields has resumed after being shut-in by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, although another major project may be delayed even further because of the storms. Murphy Oil and Petsec Energy announced...

Baker Hughes rig count.(Regional Market Roundup)
December 12, 2005... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] BAKER HUGHES RIG COUNT Week Ended Dec. 9 Rotary Rigs Current Previous Year Week Week Ago Total US 1,483 1,460...

Gas price trends.(Regional Market Roundup)
December 12, 2005... GAS PRICE TRENDS ($/MMBtu) ROCKY NEW CALIFORNIA MTNS MEXICO South North Dec 12, 2005 Inter (well) - - 12.68 12.39 ...

EnCana takes stab at expanding Nova Scotia's Deep Panuke Field.(Canadian Markets)
December 12, 2005... Once thought to be highly promising, in terms of potential natural gas, Nova Scotia's offshore frontier is being almost completely eclipsed by exploration and development activity in Western Canada, including progress being made on the proposed...

Mexico shunning Henry Hub for fixing Pacific coast LNG price.(World Roundup)
December 12, 2005... Mexico is seeking LNG pricing options that will get it as far away from linkage to the Henry Hub US benchmark as possible. On Mexico's Pacific coast, this means preference will be given to any seller offering an S-curve in the pricing formula...

Canadian price report.(World Roundup)
December 12, 2005... CANADIAN PRICE REPORT ($U.S. per MMBtu/$Can per Gigajoule) BRITISH COLUMBIA Huntingdon/ Kingsgate/ Total Sumas ...

Report: 2006 hurricane season, like 2005, could well be doozy.(World Roundup)
December 12, 2005... The headline in the Houston Chronicle said it all: "Dark and stormy forecast for 2006: Team expects 17 named storms next season--the most it has ever predicted." Last week, the hurricane forecasting team at Colorado State University...

Natural gas weekly spot prices.
December 19, 2005... NATURAL GAS WEEKLY SPOT PRICES Flow Dotes: 12/13-12/19 Avg. Avg. Dec. Price Daily Daily Bid Point $/MMBtu Chg....

Conoco to become top US natgas producer with Burlington buyout.
December 19, 2005... Anyone doubting that natural gas prices have moved into a new paradigm need to look no further than last week's ConocoPhillips-Burlington Resources deal to see that at least one major producer sees a robust near-term for the once-unwanted...

Southern Union pays $1.6 B for Sid Richardson midstream assets.
December 19, 2005... Southern Union was a somewhat low-key Pennsylvania-based natural gas distributor not long ago, but in less than three years it has emerged as a key player in the natural gas midstream and pipeline business. The most recent deal, announced...

Weather, storage being eyed as key drivers to market direction.
December 19, 2005... Despite a surprisingly large withdrawal of natural gas from storage inventories last week, January gas futures took the downside instead of rallying to even loftier highs. Traders said market conditions before the report were already...

EnCana's CFO follows CEO into retirement; sparks speculation.
December 19, 2005... John Watson, the CFO of North America's biggest independent natural gas producer, Calgary-based EnCana, announced his retirement last week, two months after company founder and long time-time CEO Gwyn Morgan revealed his own plans to step down....

ANWR included in bill.(Late news ...)
December 19, 2005... ANWR included in bill: Senate Democrats said Friday they will attempt to stop a move by Republicans to attach a provision to a defense and hurricane relief spending bill that would allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)....

Shut-ins continue.(Late news ...)
December 19, 2005... Shut-ins continue: The federal Minerals Management Service released its update on shut-ins from the Gulf of Mexico due to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The report, once issued daily, is now being released on Mondays and Thursdays, the MMS said....

Funds contributed.(Late news ...)
December 19, 2005... Funds contributed: The Department of Energy (DOE) announced late Thursday it would contribute $17 million to about $23.3 million to advance coal gasification plants that can produce cheap, efficient and environmentally responsible substitute...

Don't look for wave of 'me-too' North American natgas mergers.
December 19, 2005... Will the major integrated oil companies be lining up to purchase large gas-oriented North American independents in the wake of ConocoPhillips' planned acquisition of Burlington Resources? Well, don't hold your breath. Most of the majors...

Intrastate weekly spot prices.
December 19, 2005... INTRASTATE WEEKLY SPOT PRICES Flow Dates: 12/13-12/19 Avg. Avg. Dec. Price Daily Daily Bid Point $/MMBtu Chg....

Exxon: coal, nukes will Erode gas generation share by 2030.
December 19, 2005... There may be some big changes with regards to oil and gas supply and demand by 2030, but Exxon Mobil does not anticipate supply shortages--in fact quite the opposite, according to the supermajor's latest long-term energy outlook. Asia...

Prices and differentials for major hubs and selected city gates.
December 19, 2005... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] December 19, 2005 US$/MMBtu, Volume-Weighted SELECTED DAILY DIFFERENTIALS Differential 12/12 12/13 12/14 12/15 12/16 HH-NY +2.78 +2.31 +1.59 +1.08 +1.06 HH-Chicago -0.51 -0.68...

Changes to 133-year-old Mining Law pulled from US budget bill.
December 19, 2005... Rep. Jim Gibbons (R-Nev) was forced to withdraw his amendment to the House Deficit Reduction Act that would have changed the 1872 Mining Law. Gibbons was informed that the language of the provision he authored didn't comply with the Senate...

North American weekly gas storage.
December 19, 2005... NORTH AMERICAN WEEKLY GAS STORAGE (Billion Cubic Feet) Dec. 9 Dec. 2 Weekly Year Yr. Ago 5-year 5-year Region Week Week Change Ago Change Average Change US East 1744 ...

Natural gas futures.
December 19, 2005... NATURAL GAS FUTURES Trading Dates: December 12 - December 16, 2005 NEW YORK MERCANTILE EXCHANGE (NYMEX) (HENRY HUB) Monday Tuesday Wednesday Last Volume Last Volume...

Competition: US won't find much winter warmth from LNG imports.(Atlantic Basin LNG Update)
December 19, 2005... Over the past couple months, expectations were rising that this winter would see a breakout of LNG supply to the US and that the market wouldn't be as tight as it was in passed years. Energy Intelligence's Gas Metrics estimated November LNG...

Prices for major Atlantic basin LNG hubs.(Atlantic Basin LNG Update)
December 19, 2005... December 2005 * European gas prices are four-week spot averages from World Gas Intelligence. US gas prices are Natural Gas Week's volume-weighted composites from delivery first day of month through most current delivery date. New York...

Calpine gets new CEO; waits on appeal ruling.(CURRENT)
December 19, 2005... By late Friday, energy markets were still waiting to see if Calpine had convinced the Delaware Supreme Court to overturn a lower court's decision that required the independent power producer to repay hundreds of millions in proceeds. ...

Diversified utilities mulling merger.(CURRENT)
December 19, 2005... Action by Congress earlier this year to repeal the Public Utility Holding Company Act, which limited utility merger options, has opened the way for a spate of transactions that were previously not possible. This includes a potential deal...

Sempra Energy might ditch power assets to pay down debt, invest.(CURRENT)
December 19, 2005... Sempra Energy may either sell or refinance its power generation business to pay down debt associated with those assets or invest the money in other projects, including LNG terminals, new interstate natural gas pipelines and natural gas storage...