FUTURES SINK DESPITE RENEWED COLD SURGE
After running higher prior to Monday's regular trading session, the March natural gas futures contract peaked at $5.679 just a few minutes after the open before declining for the rest of the day. The prompt-month contract finished out the regular session at $5.401, down 11.4 cents from Friday's close.
ANALYSTS: SUPPLY RESPONSE FALLS SHORT AS DEMAND TO SLACKEN THIS YEAR
Natural gas prices will get support from cold temperatures in the first quarter, and strengthening coal markets will lift the gas-coal switching price floor in Q2 and Q3, but demand will fail to revive gas prices this year, according to analysts at Barclays Capital.
EXXONMOBIL READIES FIRST GAS WELL AT POINT THOMSON
ExxonMobil Production Co. on Monday said it has successfully drilled and cased the first of two development natural gas wells for its Point Thomson project on Alaska's North Slope to a targeted gas reservoir more than 1.5 miles under the Beaufort Sea .
NOAA CREATING CLIMATE SERVICE OFFICE
Responding to what it said is a rising tide of requests for information about climate change from "individuals and decision makers across widely diverse sectors," the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is creating a climate service office dedicated to bringing together NOAA's climate science and service delivery capabilities, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said Monday.
ENERGY STOCKS COULD GET UGLIER, SAY ANALYSTS
Recent stock market weakness and a bearish 2010 U.S. natural gas outlook appear to be trumping improved energy fundamentals, and energy stocks "could get much uglier if the market malaise continues," Raymond James & Co. Inc. analysts said Monday.
AGA ENDORSES BILL TO RAISE LIHEAP FUNDING BY $2.5B ANNUALLY
The American Gas Association (AGA) has endorsed House legislation that would significantly raise annual funding for a federal program that provides assistance to low-income energy customers.
FIVE KILLED IN EXPLOSION AT GAS-FIRED PLANT SITE
The death toll from a Sunday explosion at a natural gas-fired power plant under construction in Middletown, CT, should stand at five, according to Middletown Mayor Sebastian Giuliano, who said everyone assigned to work at the blast site when the explosion occurred has been accounted for.
PERMIT DENIAL FOR CONOCOPHILLIPS COMES UNDER FIRE
Both of Alaska's U.S. senators blasted the Obama administration's denial of ConocoPhillips' permit application to construct a bridge to access what would have been the first oil and natural gas leases in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A), insisting instead that the producer use directional drilling for the development.
EV ENERGY, PARTNERS PAY $330M FOR OHIO TIGHT GAS SANDS PROPERTY
EV Energy Partners LP (EVEP) and partnerships managed by EnerVest Ltd. agreed to pay Range Resources $330 million to acquire some tight gas sands property and producing wells in the Ohio portion of the Appalachian Basin, the companies said Monday.
NORTHEAST SPIKES LEAD ALL-POINTS ADVANCE
Soaring Northeast gains that topped $4 in Transco's two Zone 6 pools were way out in front of an across-the-board run of higher prices Friday. The weekend blizzard stretching from the Mid-Atlantic into the lower Northeast, along with forecasts of sub-freezing lows in the Midwest, Rockies, Canada and even parts of the South, were chiefly responsible for the firmness.
EASTERN 'SNOWMAGEDDON' FAILS TO SPIKE FUTURES
Despite the fact that much of the midwestern and eastern parts of the country are plunging into the season's second cold freeze, natural gas futures traders appeared unmoved Friday as the March contract bounced back and forth before closing the regular session at $5.515, up 9.9 cents from Thursday's finish and 38.4 cents from the previous week's close.
NEW PIPES SPARK TRADING ACTIVITY AT CLARINGTON, TRANSWESTERN SAN JUAN
The build-out of pipeline infrastructure in recent years has contributed to the efficiency of the nation's natural gas delivery grid as previously stranded gas can now reach high-demand markets. New trading activity and pricing locations have emerged, prompting NGI to establish new price indices for Transwestern San Juan (TSJ) and the Clarington, OH, terminus of Rockies Express (REX).
NGPL TRIES TO REFUTE CHARGES OF OVER-RECOVERING COST OF SERVICE
Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America (NGPL) Thursday filed a cost and revenue study for the 12-month period ending in October 2009, defending itself against FERC Section 5 charges that it was over-recovering its cost of service. NGPL was one of three pipelines accused by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission of collecting a return on equity in 2008 of more than 20%, well above Commission guidelines).
REPORTS: SEMPRA MIGHT BUY BACK RBS TRADING INTEREST
San Diego-based Sempra Energy is thought to be negotiating with the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) to buy back RBS's 51% interest in the two firms' joint venture trading unit, RBS Sempra Commodities. Two sources in the financial and energy trading space told NGI Thursday that this would make sense for the U.S. energy holding company if it can get the right price.
ANALYSIS FINDS ALBERTA SHALE ECONOMICS LAG U.S. AND BC PLAYS
Alberta will remain a blank spot on the shale gas production map of North America until the provincial government overhauls unfavorable royalties, according to a study circulating in the industry capital of Calgary.
COLORADO GAS OUTPUT UP -- DESPITE LOWER RIG COUNT
More stringent drilling rules and low natural gas prices -- which led to some well shut-ins last year -- failed to deter Colorado's natural gas production, which grew in 2009 from 2008, according to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC).
NOAA: FADING EL NINO COULD INTENSIFY HURRICANE SEASON
A "strong and mature" El Nino -- the warming of sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean -- persisted during January, but it is likely to fade this spring, increasing the chances for an active Atlantic hurricane season this year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center (CPC).
FORT WORTH CONSIDERS MORE TESTS AT BARNETT DRILLING SITES
The Fort Worth, TX, city council is considering whether to use city funds to retest ambient air quality around the city's natural gas drilling sites to determine whether drilling and production are contributing to the city's air pollution.
MARCELLUS COALITION DEFENDS PENNSYLVANIA WATER HANDLING
As natural gas production in the prolific Marcellus Shale continues to ramp up in Pennsylvania, proponents say drilling and well stimulation practices are safe and that steps are being taken to ensure the protection of the Commonwealth's water resources for all Pennsylvanians.
WALL STREET WATCHING REGULATOR ACTIONS, SAYS CPUC MEMBER
Wall Street has a closer eye on the nation's energy utility sector and the kind of state regulation impacting it, and so far in the new year it doesn't necessarily like what it sees, according to John Bohn, a member of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) who recently returned from a week-long series of conferences and meetings with financial analysts in New York City.
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