Natural Gas Week articles from June 2005

Natural Gas Week archives from June 2005

Natural gas weekly spot prices.
June 6, 2005... NATURAL GAS WEEKLY SPOT PRICES Flow Dates: 5/31-6/6 Avg. Avg. Jun. Price Daily Daily Bid Point $/MMBtu Chg....

Hold on: natural gas, crude oil boom may be decades-long cycle.
June 6, 2005... Crude oil and natural gas are universally recognized as among the world's most important commodities. Whether used for manufacturing, generating heat and power or as a transportation fuel, oil and gas supplies have been relatively cheap and...

Bahamian hassles muddling LNG prospects for Florida gas market.
June 6, 2005... The Bahamas were supposed to be the gateway to the Florida natural gas market via one or more LNG receiving terminals and connecting pipelines, but that option is beginning to look as questionable as the idea that Baja California, Mexico, would...

Soaring gas and crude markets can expect little relief ahead.
June 6, 2005... Bulls came out of the woodwork last week, sending gas futures prices flying high amid a steady stream of buying throughout the energy complex. Based on the strength seen at the end of last week, coupled with forecasts for $60 crude oil by the...

9th Circuit blocks further CBM development for now in Montana.
June 6, 2005... The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco last week blocked any new coalbed methane (CBM) development on federal lands in the Powder River Basin in Montana until at least mid-September, continuing a pattern of somewhat contradictory...

Focus shifted.(Late news ...)
June 6, 2005... Focus shifted: Exxon Mobil's proposed Golden Pass, a facility on the Sabine River south of Port Arthur, Texas, is now the primary focus of the supermajor's US LNG terminal development efforts, Natural Gas Week has learned from industry sources....

KeySpan defends project.(Late news ...)
June 6, 2005... KeySpan defends project: KeySpan is asking FERC to reject a study that said their proposed upgrade of its LNG storage site in Providence, Rhode Island, does not meet federal safety standards. The company wants to upgrade its facility into an...

ROVs added to fleet.(Late news ...)
June 6, 2005... ROVs added to fleet: Houston-based Oceaneering International announced Friday it is adding 12 working class underwater robots to its fleet at a cost of about $20 million. Oceaneering Chief Executive John Huff said the company has 167 remotely...

Fiercer 2005 hurricane season expected, more Gulf storms seen.
June 6, 2005... Still feeling the fallout from the 2004 storm season, the Gulf of Mexico's oil and gas industry got a disturbing report this past week when the current hurricane season was upgraded by one of the nation's leading forecasters. In April,...

Ivan's surprise: more went right than wrong during major storm.
June 6, 2005... As the new hurricane season begins, federal officials and the Gulf of Mexico energy industry are still learning lessons from 2004's Hurricane Ivan. Two big things were learned from the Ivan's march through the central Gulf of Mexico in...

Prices and differentials for major hubs and selected city gates.
June 6, 2005... June 6, 2005 US$/MMBtu, Volume-Weighted [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SELECTED DAILY DIFFERENTIALS Differential 5/30 5/31 6/1 6/2 6/3 HH-NY +0.34 +0.31 +0.32 +0.30 +0.36 HH-Chicago -0.09 -0.07...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
June 6, 2005... An article in the May 30 edition of Natural Gas Week mischaracterized the nature of the Natural Gas Supply Association. The NGSA is a producer organization.

Intrastate weekly spot prices.
June 6, 2005... INTRASTATE WEEKLY SPOT PRICES Flow Dates: 5/31-6/6 Avg. Avg. Jun. Price Daily Daily Bid Point $/MMBtu Chg. High...

Noble Energy reinvents itself, expands with Patina acquisition.
June 6, 2005... Noble Energy's recently completed acquisition of Patina Oil & Gas has transformed the company's domestic operations, further reducing its dependence on the Gulf of Mexico shelf and greatly extending its reserve life index. The $3.6 billion...

Composite spot wellhead price.
June 6, 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 2004 5.90 4.79 5.28 5.62 6.17 6.11 5.82 5.37...

Calls for standardized average pricing for futures ramping up.
June 6, 2005... Sparked by the growing number of new participants and increased volumes of energy futures contracts, requests for average pricing of trades by energy commodity pool operators and hedge funds have ramped-up considerably, begetting a growing...

Natural gas futures.
June 6, 2005... NATURAL GAS FUTURES Trading Dates: May 30 - June 3, 2005 NEW YORK MERCANTILE EXCHANGE (NYMEX) (HENRY HUB) Monday Tuesday Wednesday Last Volume Last Volume Last Volume ...

Law stripping municipalities of rights over drilling draws fire.
June 6, 2005... Typically, the battlefield for drilling has been in the Rocky Mountain Front Range; rural areas, touted for natural wonders, far from population centers. But, across the US, companies are shifting from vast fields in the big country to the...

US imports dim as picture of Mexican LNG terminals clears.
June 6, 2005... Pieces of the complex puzzle that is Mexico's LNG terminal landscape are starting to fall into place, with the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) emerging as a key player, while export prospects to the US fall under a cloud. A...

North American weekly gas storage (billion cubic feet).
June 6, 2005... NORTH AMERICAN WEEKLY GAS STORAGE (Billion Cubic Feet) May 27 May 20 Weekly Year Yr. Ago 5-Year 5-Year Region Week Week Change Ago Change Average Change US East 858 799 ...

Natural gas bidweek prices.
June 6, 2005... NATURAL GAS BIDWEEK PRICES Flow Dates: 6/1-6/30 June Chg. Prev. Price Avg. from Bid- Point $/MMBtu Prev....

IEA analyst: fossil fuels will remain king, gas to edge coal.
June 6, 2005... The world will use about 60% more energy by 2030 than it is using now and the cost for keeping up with the global thirst for energy will be about $16 trillion. That was the assessment given by Amos Bromhead, an analyst with the...

NGW's monthly weighted averages.
June 6, 2005... NGW'S MONTHLY WEIGHTED AVERAGES $/MMBtu Price Point May '05 Apr.'05 Mar.'05 Feb.'05 Jan.'05 Gulf Coast ANR SE 6.41 7.09 6.82 5.99 6.09 Col. Gulf - Erath 6.47 7.21...

Gas steps up to meet Wisconsin nuke shortfall.(CURRENT)
June 6, 2005... Standing at summer's doorstep, Wisconsin finds itself short about 1,016 MW in nuclear generation capacity, which will most likely spell sharply higher natural gas demand in the dog days ahead. Wisconsin already has 1,500 MW of gas-fired...

Ontario plan could double power prices.(CURRENT)
June 6, 2005... Ontario regulators continue to press for the eradication of coal-fired generation--despite the almost doubling of electricity prices and the plan's reliance on consumers reducing consumption. A year ago, Premier Dalton McGuinty claimed he...

PSEG Power retires two oil-fired units after 50 years operation.(CURRENT)
June 6, 2005... PSEG Power has retired 296 MW of oil-fired generation after PJM determined the units were not needed for system reliability this summer and without associated subsidies the plants were not economical. The company retired units 7 and 8 at...

DOE heralds major solar energy advance.(CURRENT)
June 6, 2005... Researchers at the US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have shown that nanotechnology may greatly increase the amount of electricity produced by solar cells. "Quantum dot materials" have been shown to...

Spot electricity trading.
June 6, 2005... SPOT ELECTRICITY TRADING Trading Dates: May 30-June 3, 2005 NEW YORK MERCANTILE EXCHANGE (NYMEX) (HENRY HUB) Avg. Price Avg. Price This Last Year Month POINT ...

Cinergy, Duke launch merger filings.(CURRENT)
June 6, 2005... Cinergy and Duke have filed an application with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) seeking approval of their merger agreement by year's end. The companies said it was the first of several regulatory filings regarding the merger...

Comparative fuel prices.(CURRENT)
June 6, 2005... COMPARATIVE FUEL PRICES (Cash Market) June 6, 2005 APPALACHIA Appalachian Pool Ohio/Big Sandy River Coal Dlvd (Util) $56.00/ton $6.86/MMBtu $2.33/MMBtu EAST COAST New York Heating...

Public comments sought on loan program for Alaskan pipeline.(Regional Market Roundup)
June 6, 2005... The Department of Energy said it will ask for public comment on a federal government loan guarantee program to help build the Alaska Pipeline, which could ultimately ferry 4.5 Bcf/d of rich Alaskan reserves to the lower 48 states. Congress...

Baker Hughes rig count.(Regional Market Roundup)
June 6, 2005... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] BAKER HUGHES RIG COUNT Week Ended Jun. 3 Rotary Rigs Current Previous Year Week Week Ago Total US 1,353 1,331...

Gas price trends.(Regional Market Roundup)
June 6, 2005... GAS PRICE TRENDS ($/MMBtu) ROCKY NEW CALIFORNIA MTNS MEXICO South North Jun 6, 2005 Inter (well) - - 5.25 5.11 Intra...

Canada's energy trusts expand, Penn West latest to join team.(Canadian Markets)
June 6, 2005... A spate of energy trust-driven acquisitions swept through Western Canada recently, as the energy trust field itself became that much larger--or crowded--when the fifth largest Canadian independent producer, Penn West Petroleum, gained...

ELNG open, shipment headed to US; Egypt touts gas reserves.(World Roundup)
June 6, 2005... Egypt's second LNG export venture has started up, three months early. A first cargo from the Egyptian LNG (ELNG) project in Idku was lifted May 29. Malaysian state energy firm Petronas is expected to bring the initial ELNG cargo to the US,...

Qatar seeks new math for North Field.(World Roundup)
June 6, 2005... Qatari Oil Minister Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah says Qatar is newly focused on treating its giant North Field--with its estimated 900 Tcf of recoverable gas reserves--"very carefully... to be on the safe side" and to enable "100 years of...

Canadian price report.(World Roundup)
June 6, 2005... CANADIAN PRICE REPORT ($U.S. per MMBtu/$Can per Gigajoule) BRITISH COLUMBIA Huntingdon/ Kingsgate/ Total Sumas ...

Market bears might decide it's best to hibernate this summer.(World Roundup)
June 6, 2005... A few bears must be blinking twice at the coming summer market as signs abound of a runaway energy complex as well as crushing upside fundamental pressures. Bidweek may well have been the low tide for this cycle, setting a $6.123/MMBtu...

Natural gas weekly spot prices.
June 13, 2005... NATURAL GAS WEEKLY SPOT PRICES Flow Dates: 6/7-6/13 Avg. Avg. Jun. Price Daily Daily Bid Point $/MMBtu Chg....

Barnett bonanza spurs rush to find next large shale gas play.
June 13, 2005... US natural gas plays don't come much hotter than the Barnett Shale in Texas where output has jumped five-fold since 2000. Devon Energy currently rules the roost, with roughly half of the play's total production of 1.1 Bcf/d. But other companies...

Tale of two terminals: St. John Folks fuming, not Cape Breton.
June 13, 2005... Taxpayers in St John, New Brunswick, have reason to be envious of an LNG terminal deal struck by the 1,000 or so people of Richmond County on the northern Nova Scotia island of Cape Breton. Last week, residents of St. John, the New...

Arlene, storage tussle over gas market direction; bears control.
June 13, 2005... Arlene gave and Arlene is likely to take away this week as the storm lumbers ashore, dampening demand and precipitating early week losses as the market wrings out any storm premium. [GRAPHIC OMITTED] And it was a hefty premium. Once it...

Pipeline capacity utilization.
June 13, 2005... PIPELINE CAPACITY UTILIZATION Pipeline Point Name Capacity May-05 Apr-05 Colorado Interstate Cheyenne 590,000 85% 76% Gas Columbia Gas Leach ...

Access migrating to ClearPort, Nymex consolidating e-trading.
June 13, 2005... The New York Mercantile Exchange is quietly making preparations to begin ramping-down its Access electronic trading platform in an attempt to migrate all electronic trading of its products to its ClearPort platform. Even though plans are well...

Suit settled.(Late news ...)
June 13, 2005... Suit settled: About $2 billion will be paid by Citigroup Inc., the nation's largest financial institution, to settle a class-action lawsuit over its role in the sale of Enron stock and bonds before the energy giant's meltdown and collapse in...

Application made.(Late news ...)
June 13, 2005... Application made: The environmental assessment application by Kitimat LNG Ltd. for a proposed $398.4 million LNG receiving terminal proposed to be built near Kitimat, British Columbia, has been accepted by provincial authorities. This starts a...

Drilling started.(Late news ...)
June 13, 2005... Drilling started: British Columbia-based Montello Resources has entered into an agreement with the Arapahoe Energy Corp. for a drilling project on Tsuu Tina First Nation land west of Calgary. Montello officials said drilling will start before...

PetroIndex gives Texas healthy marks, jobs still go begging.
June 13, 2005... The energy industry in Texas increased both oil and gas production and employment in the first six months of this year, according to the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers. The alliance published its Texas PetroIndex last week. The...

Intrastate weekly spot prices.
June 13, 2005... INTRASTATE WEEKLY SPOT PRICES Flow Dates: 6/7-6/13 Avg. Avg. Jun. Price Daily Daily Bid Point $/MMBtu Chg. High Low...

Yukon backs TransCanada claim on Alaska gas pipeline efforts.
June 13, 2005... The government of the Yukon has indirectly endorsed TransCanada PipeLine's claims to first priority in building the Canadian segment of the Alaska natural gas pipeline system by endorsing provisions of the almost 30-year-old Northern Pipeline...

Prices and differentials for major hubs and selected city gates.
June 13, 2005... June 13, 2005 US$/MMBtu, Volume-Weighted [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SELECTED DAILY DIFFERENTIALS Differential 6/6 6/7 6/8 6/9 6/10 HH-NY +0.61 +0.76 +0.73 +0.66 +0.64 HH-Chicago -0.04 -0.06...

Texas independent sees success targeting rich Maverick Basin.
June 13, 2005... The Maverick Basin is continuing to be a profitable target for The Exploration Company, a San Antonio, Texas-based-independent. Located in southwest Texas, the Basin will continue to be a key component to the company's 2005 drilling...

North American weekly gas storage.
June 13, 2005... NORTH AMERICAN WEEKLY GAS STORAGE (Billion Cubic Feet) Jun. 3 May 27 Weekly Year Yr. Ago 5-year 5-year Region Week Week Change Ago Change Average Change US East 927 858 ...

Shell updates Qatar GTL project, notes strong efficiency gains.
June 13, 2005... Royal Dutch/Shell knew that construction of its first world-scale natural gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant in Qatar would be challenging, but it didn't know that one of those challenges would be balancing rapidly advancing air separation capabilities...

Natural gas futures.
June 13, 2005... NATURAL GAS FUTURES Trading Dates: June 6 - June 10, 2005 NEW YORK MERCANTILE EXCHANGE (NYMEX) (HENRY HUB) Monday Tuesday Wednesday Last Volume Last Volume Last Volume...

BP plays it straight, sticking with conventional oil and gas.
June 13, 2005... Supermajor BP is sticking with conventional oil and gas projects and conservative price assumptions to sanction investments, says Tony Hayward, group managing director and chief executive of BP's exploration and production unit. BP doesn't...

IGCC or PC: carbon outlook answers question.(CURRENT)
June 13, 2005... Current and expected emission regulations appear to be the swing factor that could impact the amount of natural gas that is demanded by electricity markets, even though natural gas has been favored in recent years for its clean burning...

Coal no white knight, constraints cited.(CURRENT)
June 13, 2005... A hot summer could bode well for natural gas suppliers as air conditioning loads drive up demand for power, especially since transportation constraints should keep coal volumes available to the US market flat with the past several years,...

Larger PJM sets demand record, higher summer peak in outlook.(CURRENT)
June 13, 2005... Forecasts of stronger power demand appear to be panning out as the 13 states and the District of Columbia that make up the power region managed by PJM set a new power demand record last week of more than 100,000 MW. It is the highest...

NSR enforcement hit by federal court.(CURRENT)
June 13, 2005... US District Judge Virginia Hopkins of the Northern District of Alabama ruled in favor of Alabama Power last week in the New Source Review (NSR) case, a move some expect could quench the flames of aggressive interpretation and use of NSR. ...

Spot electricity trading.(CURRENT)
June 13, 2005... SPOT ELECTRICITY TRADING Trading Dates: June 6-June 10, 2005 NEW YORK MERCANTILE EXCHANGE (NYMEX) (HENRY HUB) Avg. Price Avg. Price This Last Year Month POINT ...

Alberta puts brakes on deregulation.(CURRENT)
June 13, 2005... Alberta, which fuels more than 40% of its electricity using natural gas, announced last week it will nix its electric deregulation plan because it will cost consumers too much. Over 3,800 MW of new gas-fired generation was added to the...

Comparative fuel prices.(CURRENT)
June 13, 2005... COMPARATIVE FUEL PRICES (Cash Market) June 13, 2005 APPALACHIA Appalachian Pool Ohio/Big Sandy River Coal Dlvd (Util) $55.50/ton $7.53/MMBtu $2.31/MMBtu EAST COAST New...

Canadian Superior settles suit over troubled Mariner project.(Regional Market Roundup)
June 13, 2005... Canadian Superior Energy has settled a class-action lawsuit filed by shareholders over its Mariner I-85 exploration well off the coast of Nova Scotia for $3.2 million. In a prepared statement released last week, the Calgary-based oil and...

Baker Hughes rig count.(Regional Market Roundup)
June 13, 2005... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] BAKER HUGHES RIG COUNT Week Ended Jun. 10 Rotary Rigs Current Previous Year Week Week Ago Total US 1,339 1,353...

Gas price trends.(Regional Market Roundup)
June 13, 2005... GAS PRICE TRENDS ($/MMBtu) ROCKY NEW CALIFORNIA MTNS MEXICO South North Jun 13, 2005 Inter (well) - - 5.61 5.53 Intra...

Sale sets top driller Precision on course for trust conversion.(Canadian Markets)
June 13, 2005... Oil services firm Weatherford International snapped up a large chunk of Precision Drilling last week, paying $2.3 billion (C$2.9 billion) for the Calgary-based company's energy services business and international drilling unit. When the...

East Timor to open bidding for oil, gas blocks early next year.(World Roundup)
June 13, 2005... East Timor expects to open bidding for its maiden oil and gas blocks in the first quarter of next year, a senior government official said last week, much later than expected. East Timor, one of Asia's poorest nations has vowed to use oil...

BP sees early Tangguh LNG deliveries.(World Roundup)
June 13, 2005... BP hopes to start producing LNG from its $6 billion Tangguh project in Indonesia ahead of the end-2008 target and may expand the facility, an executive said last week. The project, in the remote eastern province of Papua, will have two LNG...

Canadian price report.(World Roundup)
June 13, 2005... CANADIAN PRICE REPORT ($U.S. per MMBtu/$Can per Gigajoule) BRITISH COLUMBIA Huntingdon/ Kingsgate/ Total Sumas ...

Personnel shortage continues to haunt industry, unocal COO says.(World Roundup)
June 13, 2005... The best of times and the worst. That is how Unocal President and Chief Operating Officer Joseph H. Bryant characterized the current global oil and gas industry on the sidelines of Microsoft's recent 2005 Global Energy Forum in Houston....

Natural gas weekly spot prices.
June 20, 2005... NATURAL GAS WEEKLY SPOT PRICES Flow Dates: 6/14-6/20 Avg. Avg. Jun. Price Daily Daily Bid Point $/MMBtu...

Shakeout: gas-heavy Texas power retailers set to fall like dominos.
June 20, 2005... With natural gas prices trading well north of $7/MMBtu, the profit margins of competing Retail Electricity Providers in Texas' deregulated electricity market have been squeezed into near oblivion. And if gas prices continue to remain stout as...

Devon: odds are against finding another Barnett Shale gas play.
June 20, 2005... Sure, Devon Energy would love to find another Barnett Shale. It's just that management thinks the odds of doing it all over again are pretty slim. One of the hottest onshore US gas plays of the last two decades, the Barnett Shale in North...

Speculators hijack gas, crude oil; major bull market run not done.
June 20, 2005... Deep-pocketed hedge funds and large speculators took control of the petroleum markets last week, sending the Nymex July natural gas and crude oil futures contracts soaring to test record highs, while ignoring bearish fundamentals. [GRAPHIC...

Algonquin applies to build link to proposed Excelerate terminal.
June 20, 2005... Algonquin Gas Transmission filed an application last week with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to build, own and operate a 16-mile, $180 million pipeline that would connect Algonquin's New England natural gas pipeline system with...

Subpoenas issued.(Late news)
June 20, 2005... Subpoenas issued: The US Justice Department's Antitrust Division has issued subpoenas to Petroleum Helicopters Inc. (PHI) and Offshore Logistics, both based in Lafayette, Louisiana, and both key players in the aviation support industry for the...

LNG ruling.(Late news)
June 20, 2005... LNG ruling: The US Coast Guard has issued the draft environmental impact statement for Freeport McMoRan's proposed LNG terminal offshore Louisiana. Dubbed Main Pass Energy Hub, the facility would be located about 16 miles offshore southeast...

Natural gas futures.
June 20, 2005... NATURAL GAS FUTURES Trading Dates: June 13-June 17, 2005 NEW YORK MERCANTILE EXCHANGE (NYMEX) (HENRY HUB) Monday Tuesday Wednesday Last Volume Last Volume...

Bodman: developing a global LNG market critical to US concerns.
June 20, 2005... Energy Secretary Sam Bodman called on the US and Russia to work together to transform the global LNG market at a time when the industry is at an "extraordinary transition point" by developing a worldwide product compatibility standard and an...

Intrastate weekly spot prices.
June 20, 2005... INTRASTATE WEEKLY SPOT PRICES Flow Dates: 6/14-6/20 Avg. Avg. Jun. Price Daily Daily Bid Point $/MMBtu Chg....

Progress reported in talks over Mackenzie Gas pipeline dispute.
June 20, 2005... Sponsors of the proposed Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline are "very encouraged" by the progress made in resolving access and regulatory issues that prompted the backers to halt field work on the C$7 billion (US$5.5 billion), 700-mile project in...

Prices and differentials for major hubs and selected city gates.
June 20, 2005... PRICES AND DIFFERENTIALS FOR MAJOR HUBS AND SELECTED CITY GATES June 20, 2005 US$/MMBtu, Volume-Weighted [GRAPHIC OMITTED] SELECTED DAILY DIFFERENTIALS Differential 6/13 6/14 6/15 6/16 6/17 ...

Southwestern CFO expects big things from new shale play.
June 20, 2005... Southwestern Energy says it is pleased with the results of the first few horizontal wells it has drilled in the Fayetteville Shale in western Arkansas and ultimately expects horizontal drilling to be the key to developing the play. ...