2008

Natural gas futures traders were unimpressed by Thursday morning’s report that a healthy 79 Bcf was injected into underground storage for the week ended Oct. 10. While the number was larger than historical figures, it was mostly inline with expectations, which allowed futures bulls to continue to push the November contract higher. The contract reached a high of $6.842 before closing at $6.703, up 11.1 cents from Wednesday’s close.

Sempra Energy’s utility overhaul of the Southern California natural gas transmission pipeline and storage system with its new firm access rights (FAR) was implemented late last month. And while experts agree that it will take several months for the market to make a complete transition to the new system, trading liquidity and volume were promising at the delivery location, providing ample data for NGI to debut its new SoCal Citygate price index on Oct. 1.

Just when it appeared that MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co.’s acquisition of Constellation Energy Group would be a smooth transaction, EDF International (EDFI), the largest power producer in Europe, last week offered to acquire Constellation Energy for $8.50/share more than what Berkshire Hathaway’s MidAmerican Energy has bid. But MidAmerican Energy did not see the rival bid as a threat.

The House last week passed by a wide margin a continuing resolution that allows the 27-year-old congressional moratorium on offshore oil and natural gas drilling, as well as a ban on oil shale exploration in the Intermountain West, to expire Tuesday. House Democrats, who waged a lengthy battle against offshore drilling, conceded that the odds of renewing the ban over the opposition of the White House were slim this year. The Senate was expected to follow suit and pass the CR over the weekend.

While the purchase of Lehman Brothers Inc., a subsidiary of bankrupt Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., by Barclays Capital Inc. for $1.75 billion was approved by a bankruptcy court judge, the sale of the investment banking and trading businesses as well as Lehman’s New York headquarters building does not include Lehman’s Eagle Energy Partners energy trading unit.

The House Wednesday passed by a wide margin a continuing resolution that allows the 27-year-old congressional moratorium on offshore oil and natural gas drilling to expire in less than a week. House Democrats, whose mostly formed a united front against offshore drilling, fractured in recent weeks, conceded that the odds of renewing the ban over the opposition of the White House were slim this year.

Hurricane Ike destroyed 52 of the 3,800 oil and natural gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), along with three jack-up drilling rigs and one platform drilling rig, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) said late Wednesday. Overall, 1,450 offshore structures were pounded by winds of more than 74 mph during the storm.

While the stock market tumbled lower Wednesday on more financial crisis news, energy futures and other commodities headed in the opposite direction on the day as investors sought refuge in tangible goods. In the second worst session of the year, Dow industrials fell more than 400 points, while October natural gas surged 63.1 cents higher to close at $7.910/MMBtu and October crude gained $6.01 to finish at $97.16/bbl.

The House late Tuesday passed a broad energy bill that would clear the way for drilling as close as 50 miles off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts if coastal state legislatures approve, as well as raise taxes on oil and gas producers by nearly $18 billion, accelerate leasing in Alaska, establish the first national renewable electricity standard and encourage the development of renewable energy and other alternative fuels.