Alive

The energy sector is alive and well, according to Deloitte, which Thursday opened its doors in Houston to the new Deloitte Center for Energy Solutions.

As one of two indicators that natural gas for transportation is still alive and well in California despite a ballot measure defeat last month, T. Boone Pickens’ gas-powered transportation company, Clean Energy Fuels Corp., said last Monday it has won a 10-year contract with the City of Glendale, CA, to build and operate a new large-scale public access compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling facility to support the city’s expanding CNG-powered vehicle fleets. The following day Sempra Energy and local officials kicked off a switch to CNG-powered cargo trucks in Southern California’s two teeming ports.

The bull move in natural gas futures looked to be alive and well in Friday morning trading before the prompt-month contract came tumbling back to earth in the afternoon. After reaching a high of $8.410 in early activity, the February contract plummeted to a low of $8.095 just after noon EST before closing out the day at $8.210, down 4.9 cents from Thursday but 36.9 cents higher than the previous week’s finish.

Natural gas storage proposals are alive and well in Arizona, but when one of them is going to turn into an actual project is still anybody’s guess, following last Tuesday’s (Aug. 26) Federal Energy Regulatory Commission staff conference in Phoenix. FERC staff promised a “report” on the meeting, but nothing more tangible emerged.

It was a close call, but the natural gas futures market managed to keep its string of gains alive Wednesday as the June contract edged higher for the sixth straight session. Although Wednesday’s 0.6-cent advance may seem pedestrian next to recent gains of 18 and 33 cents, the session was anything but a bore as prices soared to a new, 11-week high at $6.44 and gyrated within a wide, 31-cent trading range. June closed in the upper half that range at $6.314.

Very hot weather along the East Coast and in the South and much of the West kept prices moving higher at nearly all points Tuesday. Transco Zone 6-NYC soared again, this time by 80 cents, and peaked at $6.

While legislation remains alive that could cripple future expansions of the Gulfstream Natural Gas pipeline and might even bring the project to a standstill, sponsors Duke Energy and Williams said they are moving forward with construction. A Williams spokesman said the company remains confident that the legislation against the pipeline will be removed from the energy appropriations bill during conference on the measure in September.

While legislation remains alive that could cripple future expansions of the Gulfstream Natural Gas pipeline and might even bring the project to a standstill, sponsors Duke Energy and Williams said they are moving forward with construction. A Williams spokesman said the company remains confident that the legislation against the pipeline will be removed from the energy appropriations bill during conference on the measure in September.

Nature’s severe downturn in the amounts of hydroelectricity in the western region over the past 12 months has been a giant wake-up call for natural gas as new gas-fired power plants are spurring an unprecedented rush to build added interstate pipeline transmission into Washington and Oregon.