2008

An EnCana Corp. spokesman said last week that Colorado’s decision to rewrite its drilling rules has nothing to do with the company’s decision to sell its Paradox Basin natural gas field, which currently produces around 50 MMcf/d.

Shut-ins continued at most offshore natural gas and oil production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Wednesday, but initial assessments by onshore and offshore operators pointed to minimal damage from Hurricane Gustav. The biggest problem onshore appeared to be a lack of electricity at refineries and gas processing plants.

Offshore and onshore oil and natural gas operators continued to assess their energy infrastructure Tuesday to determine the full extent of damages resulting from Hurricane Gustav, but early reports from the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) were “very promising,” said Lars Herbst, regional director for the Minerals Management Service (MMS).

Enbridge Energy Partners LP and Atmos Pipeline and Storage LLC are holding an open season through 5 p.m. CDT Sept. 17 to solicit firm transportation for Barnett Intrastate Gas (BIG) Pipeline, which, as proposed, would carry up to 1 Bcf/d and connect Atmos’ Line X in Johnson County, TX, to Enbridge’s Double D and Clarity pipes at Bethel, TX, in Anderson County. BIG Pipeline would bridge the two companies’ systems and offer shippers access to gas supplies from the Waha, Barnett Shale, Bossier Sands and Anadarko Basin producing regions, they said. Delivery points would include market options at Enbridge’s Carthage Hub in Panola County for Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America (NGPL), Texas Gas Transmission, Gulf South, Tennessee Gas Pipeline, CenterPoint and Texas Eastern Transmission. Delivery points also would be offered at Enbridge’s Southeast Texas Hub in Orange County through NGPL, Kinder Morgan Tejas, Gulf South, Kinder Morgan Texas, Trunkline Gas, Florida Gas and Entergy. For information, contact Enbridge’s Mark DeRusse at (713) 821-6195 or mark.derusse@enbridge.com; or Steve Marsh (713) 821-2084 or steve.marsh@enbridge.com; or Atmos’ Vic DeVincenzo at (214) 206-2510 or vic.devincenzo@atmosenergy.com.

Eight years after their crimes were committed and two years after their convictions, two former natural gas traders were sentenced to prison terms by a Houston judge on Aug. 21 for reporting false price data to energy industry price index publishers.

A much larger than expected storage injection report was deemed more important to the market than the potential loss of great amounts of Gulf of Mexico (GOM) production due to shut ins caused by Tropical Storm Gustav. The result was falling prices at nearly all points Thursday.

Given Tropical Storm Gustav’s relatively slow progression, it’s difficult for Gulf of Mexico (GOM) offshore operators to predict where the storm might wind up. While some said they were bringing all crews ashore, others awaited further developments. And some split the difference, opting to retrieve only nonessential personnel for the time being. To some extent timing depended on how large a company’s offshore contingent was and how long it would take to get them in.

A private opinion poll and mailing among voters in an upcoming county ballot referendum has sparked a controversy in Oregon aimed at NorthernStar Natural Gas and its proposed Bradwood Landing liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal along the Oregon side of the Columbia River a few miles from where the river and Pacific Ocean meet. Part of the proposed project would include a natural gas transmission pipeline to take the regasified LNG supplies about 125 miles east to major transmission pipelines in the load center in and around Portland and the Willamette Valley.

Warmer-than-normal temperatures will dominate in the Northeast from September through November, while cooler-than-average conditions will be in place in parts of the Southeast and along the Pacific Coast, according to forecaster WSI Corp. of Andover, MA.