Aggressive

Producers face an “aggressive and well-orchestrated effort” by lawmakers and regulators to “mischaracterize and demonize” the use of hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracing) technology to develop gas shale, an independent producer official said Wednesday during the inaugural hearing of the House Natural Gas Caucus.

San Diego-based Sempra Energy’s aggressive natural gas pipeline and storage plays, particularly tied to the Gulf of Mexico, could take a hit of up to $55 million if current assessments of the cavern prove negative in its salt dome Liberty Storage project in Louisiana, Sempra CEO Donald Felsinger said in an earnings conference call last Tuesday. Definitive information should be available in the next two to three months, he said.

Aggressive investment in renewable power generation and energy efficiency could create a $360 billion-a-year industry, provide half of the world’s electricity, slash more than $18 trillion in fuel costs while protecting the climate, and eliminate fossil fuel use by 2090, according to a report issued by the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC) and Greenpeace International.

Aggressive investment in renewable power generation and energy efficiency could create a $360 billion-a-year industry, provide half of the world’s electricity, slash more than $18 trillion in fuel costs while protecting the climate, and eliminate fossil fuel use by 2090, according to a report issued by the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC) and Greenpeace International.

Intensive application of improved drilling methods has paid off for an aggressive “junior” among Canadian natural gas producers while highlighting an industry trend of using technology to tap targets previously regarded as beyond economic reach.

California’s wholesale electricity situation looks good for this summer’s peak-demand periods, but in the longer term the state’s aggressive push to get more renewable resource-based power continues to worry the head of the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), Yakout Mansour. The CAISO CEO held a conference call with reporters last Monday to mark the release of the grid operator’s annual market performance report, a newly approved five-year strategy and CAISO’s 10th anniversary of operations.

The joint powers authority financing arm for public power in Southern California received an “AA-” credit rating for its $511.5 million revenue bonds to fund an aggressive long-term natural gas purchase program for five munis, including the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP). Fitch Ratings gave the offering a stable outlook. Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA) will use the proceeds to acquire a 30-year natural gas supply from J. Aron & Co., including five nearly identical prepaid gas sales agreements with the SCPPA municipal utilities involved. The bonds are expected to be priced soon with Goldman Sachs as the sole manager, Fitch said. As the tax-exempt intermediary in the deal, SCPPA will sell the gas to the five electric munis at a price Fitch described as being equal to the first-of-the-month market index minus a fixed discount pursuant to nearly identical gas supply agreements with each project participant. “The price risk between the prepaid [fixed] price of natural gas paid by SCPPA to J. Aron at the bond closing and the index price that will be received by SCPPA from the project participants over the next 30 years will be hedged by a commodity swap between SCPPA and AIG-FP Broadgate, as described elsewhere,” Fitch said. “In addition, SCPPA will enter into an interest rate swap with J. Aron.

San Jose, CA-based Calpine Corp., the aggressive independent power plant developer/operator, filed its joint plan of reorganization and the customary disclosure statement with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, saying it expects to have the plan confirmed by the court and creditors during the fourth quarter this year.

Natural gas futures put in another losing performance Tuesday, much to the delight of the bears, but the activity was on low volume and traders noted little aggressive selling.