2005

Tractebel LNG said Tuesday there may be enough gas demand in New England to support its new Neptune liquefied natural gas (LNG) project offshore Gloucester, MA, as well as Excelerate Energy LLC’s Northeast Gateway terminal, planned nearby, but it may be impractical to have two similar LNG projects located in the same general area.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX) last Thursday said he was “strongly” thinking about conducting a “very open markup” of HR 6, last year’s failed energy bill, in order to improve upon and update the measure to win broad bipartisan support in the House.

Coming in just a little higher than expected, the Energy Information Administration reported Thursday morning that 176 Bcf was pulled from underground natural gas storage for the week ended Feb. 4. The number appeared small when compared to last year’s 227 Bcf pull, but came in much closer to the more indicative five-year average withdrawal of 164 Bcf.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed five federal civil injunctions last week against 15 former natural gas traders and energy company Concord Energy LLC for reporting fake natural gas trading information to index publishers in an attempt to manipulate gas prices. The CFTC said the violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) could draw penalties of up to $120,000, or triple the monetary gain, per offense.

Outgoing Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham on Wednesday said that there needs to be a strong federal role in making sure that liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals get sited in the U.S. and expressed optimism that Congress will finally be able to pull a comprehensive energy bill across the finish line this year.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed five federal civil injunctions against 15 former natural gas traders and energy company Concord Energy LLC on Tuesday for reporting false information to energy trade publications and for attempted market manipulation in violation of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA).

The failure of the Army Corps of Engineers to issue a permit more than two years after FERC approved the construction of the Connecticut-to-New York Islander East Pipeline is an “example of duplicative process, wasted resource and the right hand questioning the left hand’s actions” within the federal government, said Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho last Monday.

It was all about the numbers for the last — and most spirited — witness panel before the Senate Energy Committee conference on natural gas last week. Debate erupted over both the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) weekly storage reports and the volatility and high prices of the natural gas futures market

Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA), chairman of the House Resources Committee, is urging House lawmakers not to co-sponsor a bill that would keep the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) closed to oil and natural gas drilling.