Abundance

The cash market had an abundance of supportive factors on which to base gains across the board Thursday: cold weather returning to northern market areas and continuing in the Rockies; developing cooling load from 80s highs in much of the South and Southwest; the previous day’s 35.9-cent spike by May futures; and Gulf Coast supply tightness as a result of the Independence Hub outage (see Daily GPI, April 10).

North American natural gas demand is projected to increase from 66 Bcf/d in 2006 to 81 Bcf/d in 2015, as an abundance of lower-cost liquefied natural gas (LNG) floods the market driving down prices, according to a recent report by Ziff Energy. A continued expansion of U.S. LNG imports from all parts of the globe could reach the point where “you had better have world peace or you will be bombing your own natural gas suppliers.”

North American natural gas demand is projected to increase from 66 Bcf/d in 2006 to 81 Bcf/d in 2015, as an abundance of lower-cost liquefied natural gas (LNG) floods the market driving down prices, according to a recent report by Ziff Energy. A continued expansion of U.S. LNG imports from all parts of the globe could reach the point where “you had better have world peace or you will be bombing your own natural gas suppliers.”

Despite the arrival of colder-than-normal temperatures, natural gas futures continued to probe the downside Friday as an abundance of storage and an expected warm-up in mid-December turned out to be enough to keep the bears on a roll. January natural gas futures closed lower for a fourth consecutive session at $7.302, down 15 cents on the day and 70.9 cents lower than the previous week’s close. The December contract expired Wednesday at $7.203.

The abundance of natural gas reserves already discovered, and the prospects for a large yet-to-find potential, give gas a lifetime probably in excess of 130 years, according to the World Energy Council (WEC).

The abundance of natural gas reserves already discovered, and the prospects for a large yet-to-find potential, give gas a lifetime probably in excess of 130 years, the World Energy Council (WEC) said in a new report.

Another chapter in California’s growing attempts to harness its abundance of solar energy was written in the wee hours of last Wednesday morning when the state legislature passed a statewide incentive program for solar water heating (AB 1470). The measure will now go to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is expected to sign it, according to the environmental group that helped craft the bill. The final Assembly vote was 43-29.

Another chapter in California’s growing attempts to harness its abundance of solar energy was written in the wee hours Wednesday morning when the state legislature passed a statewide incentive program for solar water heating (AB 1470). The measure will now go to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is expected to sign it, according to the environmental group that helped craft the bill. The final Assembly vote was 43-29.

The abundance of domestic liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification projects is not limited to the Gulf Coast. The northeastern Atlantic Coast has its share of proposed terminals as well. However, given rising construction costs and difficulty in securing LNG supply commitments, their futures are far from certain.