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Another hot summer, combined with a continued move by power generators to switch to natural gas, has reduced the big storage overhang and should send natural gas prices higher, according to Goldman Sachs.

Abundant regional supplies of natural gas helped Louisiana to score another economic development win with the announcement that Methanex Corp. will construct a $550 million methanol plant in the state.

Oregon regulators extended for another 12 months the same portfolio of retail energy options for private-sector natural gas and electric utility customers throughout the state. The Oregon Public Utility Commission (PUC) followed the recommendation of a third-party options committee in letting stand current programs for residential and nonresidential customers of NW Natural, PacifiCorp and Portland General Electric Co. The programs are designed to give utility customers options for supporting alternative energy development. Customers will continue to be able to voluntarily participate in NW Natural’s greenhouse gas emissions offset program and the two electric utilities’ offers for time-of-use, green source and wind power sources.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) said Thursday it was offering another $30 million in grants aimed at advancing the equipment and technology critical to the use of natural gas vehicles (NGV). DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) announced the new funding under a vehicular category focused on methane’s use in transportation.

Under a state law (AB 118) providing up to $100 million annually, the California Energy Commission (CEC) opened its pocketbook again, doling out another $1.7 million for 15 different energy projects, including a number of natural gas vehicle (NGV) programs. More than $500,000 of the grants went to what the CEC called “green transportation” advancements.

Oil and gas companies could be showing more interest in drilling wells targeting the Marcellus Shale in Wyoming County, PA, after having hired a seismic contractor to perform tests across nearly half of the county on their behalf.

As another indicator that declining natural gas liquids (NGL) prices are dragging down some bottom lines in the midstream sector, Enbridge Energy Partners LP said Tuesday it is lowering its full-year earnings projections to the $440-470 million range from earlier guidance of $510-$550 million.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett on Saturday signed the state’s $27.7 billion budget for 2012-13, which includes modifications to the tax code that could potentially offer billions in tax breaks to companies investing in an ethane cracker and associated manufacturing facilities.

Another study is under way to look at hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and increased seismic activity in an urban oilfield sitting in a hilly southwest residential portion of Los Angeles. The producer in the crosshairs of skeptics, Plains Exploration and Production Co. (PXP), is undaunted in its efforts to try to make increased drilling activity in a mostly residential area work, according to local news reports.