Natural Gas Week articles from November 2005

Natural Gas Week archives from November 2005

Natural gas weekly spot prices.
November 7, 2005... NATURAL GAS WEEKLY SPOT PRICES Flow Dates: 11/1-11/7 Avg. Avg. Nov. Price Daily Daily Bid Point $/MMBtu Chg....

Hot potato: fight over Alaska pipeline route comes to head.
November 7, 2005... The ultimate route for the Alaska pipeline, long a bone of contention in Alaskan politics, is heating up again over accusations that Gov. Frank Murkowski is focusing solely on the so-called "Canadian route" at the expense of other options in...

Slammed end-users reeling from latest train-wreck settlement.
November 7, 2005... The worst fears of natural gas end-users were realized again. November gas futures rolled off the board at an extraordinarily high level--leaving gas intensive end-users reeling and angry, while driving more nails in the coffins of many...

Futures, cash prices falling hard amid gas glut and low demand.
November 7, 2005... With no signs of a particularly early winter on the horizon, price-induced demand destruction on the rise, and storage inventories swelling--market bulls are having a harder time finding solid ground to stand on at the moment. Factor in the...

Storm-caused bottlenecks slow recovery of gulf energy industry.(Industry Overview)
November 7, 2005... More than 60 days have passed since the nation's key energy-producing states took the first of a one-two punch from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, but bottlenecks caused by the storm are still reverberating across the US. The good news:...

Project advances.(Late news)
November 7, 2005... Project advances: El Paso and Enogex have signed a letter of intent regarding El Paso's Continental Connector pipeline project. In a joint statement, the two companies said the letter of intent provides for a lease of up to 750,000 Dth/d of...

Trust planned.(Late news)
November 7, 2005... Trust planned: Officials with Duke Energy have said the company will launch an initial public offering for an income trust that will operate its natural gas gathering and processing business in Canada. In a prepared statement, the company said...

Contract awarded.(Late news)
November 7, 2005... Contract awarded: Houma, Louisiana-based Gulf Island Fabrication's subsidiary, GulfIsland, has signed a contract with Chevron North America Exploration & Production to fabricate the topsides for the Blind Faith platform. The Blind Faith field...

Oklahoma, Arkansas shale plays no Barnett, but still enticing.
November 7, 2005... The Barnett Shale boom is still alive and well in Texas, but emerging shale plays in Oklahoma and Arkansas have also caught the attention of two big independent gas producers. Devon Energy, far and away the biggest producer in the Barnett,...

Intrastate weekly spot prices.
November 7, 2005... INTRASTATE WEEKLY SPOT PRICES Flow Dates: 11/1-11/7 Avg. Avg. Nov. Price Daily Daily Bid Point $/MMBtu Chg. ...

Sonoran energy beginning work in Bayou State; four wells planned.
November 7, 2005... Sonoran Energy is based in Phoenix, but it's banking on the Bayou State as it begins the first phase of a three-phase workover project on oil and gas fields there and in Texas. Sonoran Energy President and Chief Executive Peter Rosenthal...

Prices and differentials for major hubs and selected city gates.
November 7, 2005... PRICES AND DIFFERENTIALS FOR MAJOR HUBS AND SELECTED CITY GATES November 7, 2005 US$/MMBtu, Volume-Weighted [GRAPHIC OMITTED] SELECTED DAILY DIFFERENTIALS Differential 10/31 11/1 11/2 11/3 11/4 ...

Northeast needs more supply, fewer roadblocks to market.
November 7, 2005... Regions of the US that most need access to additional natural gas supplies often are the most resistant to construction of new infrastructure, as well as to the contractual commitments required to back construction of such facilities, says the...

Composite spot wellhead price.
November 7, 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...

Composite spot delivered-to-pipeline price.
November 7, 2005... COMPOSITE SPOT DELIVERED-TO-PIPELINE PRICE January 2001 to Present ($/MMBtu) Year Jan. Feb. March April May June July August Sept. Oct. 2005 6.94 6.17 6.98 7.14 6.39 7.00 7.45 8.96 11.48 12.44 2004...

Concern: Northeast LNG projects could overwhelm pipes, market.
November 7, 2005... Power generator AES' announcement last month that it is considering a new LNG terminal on Brewster Island in Boston Harbor brought to 13 the number of active LNG proposals--including those in Canada's Atlantic provinces--targeting the...

Natural gas futures.
November 7, 2005... NATURAL GAS FUTURES Trading Dates: October 31-November 4, 2005 NEW YORK MERCANTILE EXCHANGE (NYMEX) (HENRY HUB) Monday Tuesday Wednesday Last Volume Last Volume Last ...

Growth of Mexican gas market hinges on coming LNG imports.
November 7, 2005... Lack of adequate investment in Mexico's upstream, especially for natural gas, at the same time that demand for gas is growing in the power sector leaves the country with no choice but to turn to LNG imports to ensure necessary supplies are...

North American weekly gas storage.
November 7, 2005... NORTH AMERICAN WEEKLY GAS STORAGE (Billion Cubic Feet) Oct. 28 Oct. 21 Weekly Year Yr. Ago 5-year 5-year Region Week Week Change Ago Change Average Change US East 1882 ...

Natural gas bidweek prices.
November 7, 2005... NATURAL GAS BIDWEEK PRICES Flow Dates: 11/1-11/30 November Chg. Price Avg. from Point $/MMBtu Prev. High Low Vol. GULF COAST ANR SE ...

Citygate prices.
November 7, 2005... CITYGATE PRICES November Chg. Prev. Price Avg. from Bid- Point $/MMBtu Prev. High Low Vol. Deals Week ...

Senate narrowly supports ANWR drilling; attached to budget bill.
November 7, 2005... Drilling proponents held their ground in the Senate late last week after a narrow vote allowing oil and gas development in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The Republican-driven victory came after a Democratic-led attempt...

Push to fund LIHEAP with tax on windfall profits fizzles out.
November 7, 2005... The threat of a windfall profit tax on oil companies temporarily receded late last week after Sen. Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island) and others decided not to press for a vote on their amendment to the Senate budget bill. The amendment would have...

Ngw's monthly weighted averages.
November 7, 2005... NGW'S MONTHLY WEIGHTED AVERAGES $/MMBtu Price Point Oct. '05 Sep. '05 Aug. '05 Jul. '05 Jun. '05 Gulf Coast ANR SE 13.24 11.46 8.90 7.40 7.09 Col. Gulf--Erath 13.55 ...

New England's fuel-switching options limited.(CURRENT)
November 7, 2005... Natural gas supply constraints affecting New England gas-fired generators lscking firm gas supply and transportation contracts could heighten the region's dependence on oil-fired generation, particularly residual fuel oil, some consultants say....

Peabody, ArcLight advance coal-to-gas.(CURRENT)
November 7, 2005... Peabody Energy, the world's largest private coal producer, and ArcLight Capital, a $2.5 billion private equity fund, signed a memorandum of understanding to explore sites for a commercial scale coal-to-gas project. "If you look at all the...

Texas project could be first to build offshore wind farm in US.(CURRENT)
November 7, 2005... While efforts to produce the nation's first commercial offshore wind farm have proven a struggle, Texas recently leased 11,350 of its offshore acres to get the job done. The Texas General Land Office has jurisdiction to about 10 miles out...

Progress Energy ups its nuclear option.(CURRENT)
November 7, 2005... The combination of high natural gas prices, growing demand for power and environmental pressures continue to fuel next-generation nuclear development. Progress Energy said last week it is preparing to file applications with the Nuclear...

New Jersey starts green energy program.(CURRENT)
November 7, 2005... While the main fear of some consumers is huge electricity bills caused by rising natural gas price, some New Jersey consumers are opting to pay a premium for renewables as alternatives to natural gas and dirty fuels under a program that started...

Spot electricity trading.(CURRENT)
November 7, 2005... SPOT ELECTRICITY TRADING Trading Dates: October 31-November 4, 2005 NEW YORK MERCANTILE EXCHANGE (NYMEX) (HENRY HUB) Avg. Price Avg. Price This Last Year Month POINT ...

Comparative fuel prices.(CURRENT)
November 7, 2005... COMPARATIVE FUEL PRICES (Cash Market) November 7, 2005 APPALACHIA Appalachian Pool Ohio/Big Sandy River Coal Dlvd (Util) $56.50/ton $10.60/MMBtu $2.35/MMBtu EAST...

Anadarko secures rigs for gulf fleet, inks $985 million deal.(Regional Market Roundup)
November 7, 2005... Anadarko Petroleum continued to add to its inventory of available drilling rigs last week by securing multi-year contracts for two of Transocean's deepwater drilling ships in a deal valued at $985 million. The agreements cover Transocean's...

Baker Hughes rig count.(Regional Market Roundup)
November 7, 2005... BAKER HUGHES RIG COUNT Week Ended Nov. 4 Rotary Rigs Current Previous Year Week Week Ago Total US 1,496 1,480 1,268 Land ...

Gas price trends.(Regional Market Roundup)
November 7, 2005... GAS PRICE TRENDS ($/MMBtu) ROCKY NEW CALIFORNIA MTNS MEXICO TEXAS Gulf Coast Gulf Coast ...

Alaska gas pipeline to tie into Alberta hub, not Chicago bound.(Canadian Markets)
November 7, 2005... The three major North Slope producers and the state of Alaska are nearing consensus on a framework agreement that would stipulate fiscal and regulatory terms of the Alaska section of the long-planned North Slope-to lower 48 gas pipeline, says...

Petro-Canada eyes Gazprom LNG deal serving Canadian terminal.(World Roundup)
November 7, 2005... Petro-Canada remains optimistic about its proposal to build an LNG plant in Russia in partnership with Gazprom, for exports to Canada and the US Northeast. Gazprom earlier indicated it might drop the project in favor of the massive...

South Korea said set for winter supply.(World Roundup)
November 7, 2005... Assuming the winter isn't abnormally harsh and oil prices don't move back up into territory uncompetitive with gas for power generation, South Korea will probably not be out scrambling for supplies in already tight spot markets over the coming...

Canadian price report.(World Roundup)
November 7, 2005... CANADIAN PRICE REPORT ($U.S. per MMBtu/$Can per Gigajoule) BRITISH COLUMBIA ALBERTA Huntingdon/ Kingsgate/ Total Sumas...

Gas Metrics: providing a new dimension of market intelligence for North America's natural gas business.
November 7, 2005... Gas Metrics is a unique data service providing a comprehensive, rigorous and systematic set of daily volume data for the entire US natural gas supply system. Gas Metrics allows you to discover all significant daily changes in gas...

Mirror image: Gulf, North Sea linked by worker, rig shortages.
November 7, 2005... Apart from their obvious deep sea similarities, the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico also share two challenges that could limit both area's future growth--a shrinking workforce and a lack of available drilling rigs. In the North Sea, these...

Gas price report.
November 7, 2005... GAS PRICE REPORT ($/MMBtu--Spot) November 7, 2005 Interstate Intrastate Delivered Delivered Wellhead Wellhead To Pipeline To Utility Bid Bid...

Natural gas weekly spot prices.
November 14, 2005... NATURAL GAS WEEKLY SPOT PRICES Flow Dates: 11/8-11/14 Avg. Avg. Nov. Price Daily Daily Bid Point $/MMBtu Chg....

BG to add NGLs stripping plant at expanded Trunkline terminal.
November 14, 2005... Dealing with "hot" LNG, the liquefied natural gas whose energy content exceeds the existing standards for US pipelines, is creating challenges for importers that source supplies from Nigeria, Qatar or almost anywhere but Algeria and Trinidad...

Alberta Minister asks for fair terms on frontier gas pipelines.
November 14, 2005... Alberta Energy Minister Greg Melchin agrees that North America needs natural gas supplies from Arctic frontier regions such as Canada's Northwest Territories and Alaska's North Slope. He just doesn't believe that development of those resources...

Filling storage and demand loss eyed as downside to gas market.
November 14, 2005... The window for much higher prices is rapidly closing with each passing day of above normal temperatures across the US. Factor in growing storage, increased price-induced demand loss, mixed-to-bearish technical indicators, and you've got a gas...

Gas Metrics providing a new dimension of market intelligence for North America's natural gas business.
November 14, 2005... Gas Metrics is a unique data service providing a comprehensive, rigorous and systematic set of daily volume data for the entire US natural gas supply system. Gas Metrics allows you to discover all significant daily changes in gas...

House Jettisons ANWR, offshore drilling ban from budget bill.
November 14, 2005... Opposition from moderate Republicans worried about the prospect of a political backlash forced House of Representatives leaders to drop from a budget bill provisions that would allow oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge...

Lukens sees major jump in LNG imports.
November 14, 2005... The US market will see a doubling in LNG imports by the end of the decade, according to the Lukens Energy Group 2010 natural gas production and price forecast released to energy executives at a briefing Friday morning in Houston. As for...

End-user groups lash out at Congress for high gas prices.
November 14, 2005... Residential consumers have already been warned that this winter heating bills will be considerably higher than last year, with some utilities seeing increases well over 50%. But high natural gas prices are already devastating the commercial...

Intrastate weekly spot prices.
November 14, 2005... INTRASTATE WEEKLY SPOT PRICES Flow Dates: 11/8-11/14 Avg. Avg. Nov. Price Daily Daily Bid Point $/MMBtu Chg. High...

Dow struggles to fill capacity contracted at Texas LNG terminal.
November 14, 2005... Dow Chemical believed it was getting ahead of the market in June 2003 when the petrochemical giant signed up for 500 MMcf/d of capacity in the Freeport LNG project. The company was the first industrial gas user to commit to capacity in one of...

Prices and differentials for major hubs and selected city gates.
November 14, 2005... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] November 14, 2005 US$/MMBtu, Volume-Weighted SELECTED DAILY DIFFERENTIALS Differential 11/7 11/8 11/9 11/10 11/11 HH-NY -0.78 -0.54 +0.51 +0.46 -0.19 HH-Chicago -1.68 -1.65...

Houston Exploration exits Gulf, becoming onshore-only producer.(Company Profile)
November 14, 2005... With plans to become a pure onshore gas producer, Houston Exploration is exiting the Gulf of Mexico by selling its offshore assets in a move that could net the independent from $600 million to $800 million. "For several years we have been...

North American weekly gas storage.
November 14, 2005... NORTH AMERICAN WEEKLY GAS STORAGE (Billion Cubic Feet) Nov. 4 Oct. 28 Weekly Year Yr. Ago 5-year 5-year Region Week Week Change Ago Change Average Change US East 1918 1882...

Tri-Valley forms partnership to crack open tight shale plays.
November 14, 2005... A partnership born out of necessity has been formed in California as Tri-Valley teams up with the Battelle Memorial Institute to find ways of cracking tight zones and heavy oil reservoirs. Tri-Valley has made two large gas discoveries...

Transocean sees strong 3rd qtr, but storms may hit 4th qtr hard.
November 14, 2005... Transocean officials said the news about record third-quarter finances is offset by the growing challenges it and the rest of the offshore drilling industry is facing--a shrinking workforce that is getting older and rising costs of everything...

Natural gas futures.
November 14, 2005... NATURAL GAS FUTURES Trading Dates: November 7 - November 11, 2005 NEW YORK MERCANTILE EXCHANGE (NYMEX) (HENRY HUB) Monday Tuesday Wednesday Last Volume Last Volume...

Pipeline capacity utilization.
November 14, 2005... PIPELINE CAPACITY UTILIZATION Pipeline Point Name Capacity Oct-05 Sep-05 Colorado Interstate Cheyenne 590,000 91% 94% Gas Columbia Gas Leach 2,218,000 40% ...

TXU adding to coal fleet, expand beyond Texas.(CURRENT)
November 14, 2005... TXU Corp. announced last week it wants to more than double its coal generation capacity and capitalize on the estimated $100 billion in market opportunities its sees across the US electricity sector. During the next five years, TXU will try...

Tax credits, high fuel prices seen behind advance of renewables.(CURRENT)
November 14, 2005... The US wind energy industry will set an annual growth record of 35% this year, with expected installations of 2,500 MW, bringing total US wind capacity to 9,200 MW. The American Wind Energy Association said that total could displace about...

Concerns shift to fuel costs, capacity.(CURRENT)
November 14, 2005... RKS Research & Consulting did a report for rating agency Standard & Poor's, which found that priorities among utility regulators have shifted from the financial concerns which dominated a May 2003 survey. Energy costs and the need for new...

Spot electricity trading.(CURRENT)
November 14, 2005... SPOT ELECTRICITY TRADING Trading Dates: November 7-November 11, 2005 NEW YORK MERCANTILE EXCHANGE (NYMEX) (HENRY HUB) Avg. Price Avg. Price This Last Year Month POINT ...

Comparative fuel prices.(CURRENT)
November 14, 2005... COMPARATIVE FUEL PRICES (Cash Market) November 14, 2005 APPALACHIA Appalachian Pool Ohio/Big Sandy River Coal Dlvd (Util) $57.00/ton $9.26/MMBtu $2.38/MMBtu EAST COAST New...

FP&L post-Wilma restoration nears end.(CURRENT)
November 14, 2005... By Friday, Florida Power & Light had restored service to more than 99% of its 3.2 million customers who lost power due to category 3 Hurricane Wilma that hit Oct. 24. It was the largest service restoration operation in the utility's...

Chevron, total take capacity on new Kinder Morgan Gulf pipeline.(Regional Market Roundup)
November 14, 2005... Chevron Global Gas and Total Gas & Power North America have signed 20-year binding agreements to take 100% of the initial capacity from a new natural gas pipeline system that is being proposed by Kinder Morgan in Louisiana. The $490...

Baker Hughes rig count.(Regional Market Roundup)
November 14, 2005... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] BAKER HUGHES RIG COUNT Week Ended Nov. 11 Rotary Rigs Current Previous Year Week Week Ago Total US 1,479 1,496...

Gas price trends.(Regional Market Roundup)
November 14, 2005... GAS PRICE TRENDS ($/MMBtu) ROCKY NEW CALIFORNIA MTNS MEXICO South North Nov 14, 2005 Inter (well) - - 6.09 5.96 ...

Barriers to Mackenzie pipeline lifting; ahead of Alaskan pipe.(Canadian Markets)
November 14, 2005... The president and heir apparent of Exxon Mobil, Rex Tillerson, said last week that the $7 billion (US$5.9 billion) Mackenzie Valley pipeline will likely proceed, despite problems the pipeline consortium have encountered while trying to nail...

IEA sees sharply rising global gas demand by 2030, price hikes.(World Roundup)
November 14, 2005... The International Energy Agency has upped its 25-year gas price forecast and is estimating natural gas world demand will rise by 75% to almost 464 Bcf/d by 2030. The 2.1% annual increase is down slightly from the 2.3% projected in last year's...

Peru suspends South American gas talks.(World Roundup)
November 14, 2005... Peru has suspended negotiations aimed at expanding cross-border natural gas transport in South America. The South American gas project would transport up to 1.2 Bcf/d from Peru's giant Camisea field to Chile and Argentina, and eventually...

Canadian price report.(World Roundup)
November 14, 2005... CANADIAN PRICE REPORT ($U.S. per MMBtu/$Can per Gigajoule) BRITISH COLUMBIA Huntingdon/ Kingsgate/ Total Sumas Eastport...

Windfall profit taxes bad idea, but nonetheless, time could come.(World Roundup)
November 14, 2005... The oil and gas industry, awash in an embarrassment of riches, is in a bit of a pickle. On one hand, the industry is not responsible for the conditions that have sent energy prices soaring. In fact, it diligently went about ensuring world...

Natural gas weekly spot prices.
November 21, 2005... NATURAL GAS WEEKLY SPOT PRICES Flow Dates: 11/15-11/21 Avg. Avg. Nov. Daily Daily Bid Price Point $/MMBtu...

Mackenzie project back on track, Imperial Oil satisfied with talks.
November 21, 2005... The future of the Mackenzie Pipeline project brightened considerably last week after the Canadian government provided Imperial Oil, the leader of the project, with a so-called "letter of assurance" containing proposals of royalty holidays and...

No end in sight for gas-quality spat centered on Cove Point terminal.
November 21, 2005... More than two years after the re-opening of the Cove Point regasification facility in Maryland, the gas-quality dispute between terminal operator Dominion and Washington Gas & Light (WGL), the utility that serves the nation's capital, shows no...

Winter's arrival shocks market higher, but impact seen waning.
November 21, 2005... The latest bout of cold weather moving into the eastern US didn't do much for natural gas futures, with the 12-month strip ending the week up just 6.9cents. But it has had a powerful effect on cash, which pulled itself out of an extraordinary...

Yscloskey online next month, full flows planned in March.
November 21, 2005... At Targa Resources these days, there are two dates on the minds of everyone working to bring its Yscloskey, Louisiana, natural gas processing plant back online. The first date is late December when company officials expect partial operations to...

Rules changed.(Late news ...)
November 21, 2005... Rules changed: The environmental rules have been changed for oil and gas drilling operations off the East Coast of Canada. The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency announced that amendments to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act will...

Agreement signed.(Late news ...)
November 21, 2005... Agreement signed: Marathon Oil has announced it has entered into an agreement with ENSTAR to supply natural gas for the utility's customers in South Central Alaska through 2018. Under the deal, Marathon will supply ENSTAR with more than 60 Bcf...

Alliance formed.(Late news ...)
November 21, 2005... Alliance formed: Enbridge and Value Creation Inc. (VCI) have announced a strategic alliance to pursue oil sands energy infrastructure development. As part of the alliance, Enbridge will invest $25 million for a minority equity interest in the...

Wisconsin Governor subpoenas oil and gas execs in price probe.
November 21, 2005... Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, angered over high gas prices, said he has served subpoenas to the chief executives of five major oil companies to testify about their record profits in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The action comes...

New CenterPoint-Duke line would relieve constraints, add supply.
November 21, 2005... A new-build pipeline proposed by units of Duke Energy and CenterPoint Energy would help expand capacity out of constrained supply areas in North Texas and deliver needed volumes to markets in the US Southeast. The proposed 250-mile line...

Intrastate weekly spot prices.
November 21, 2005... INTRASTATE WEEKLY SPOT PRICES Flow Dates: 11/15-11/21 Avg. Avg. Nov. Daily Daily Bid Price Point $/MMBtu Chg. High...

Prices and differentials for major hubs and selected city gates.
November 21, 2005... November 21, 2005 US$/MMBtu, Volume-Weighted [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SELECTED DAILY DIFFERENTIALS Differential 11/14 11/15 11/16 11/17 11/18 HH-NY -0.47 -0.67 +0.67 +0.73 +0.11 HH-Chicago -1.53 -0.74...