Approach

The Conservative government of Canada’s energy province is promising to inaugurate a new era of efficient regulation — by going back to the approach taken in its formative times. After 12 years of a forced marriage, Alberta’s natural gas, oil and power watchdogs will regain their former stature as two separate agencies responsible for supply development and protecting consumers.

Expressing strong dissatisfaction with what it considers California’s one-sided energy approach, the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) late last month unanimously voted to reject the proposed second Devers-to-Palo-Verde (DPV2) high-voltage interstate transmission line by Rosemead, CA-based Southern California Edison Co. Edison is the majority owner/operator of the existing high-voltage interstate line along the same route.

Lower natural gas prices and the approach of the spring planting season prompted Terra Industries to restart ammonia production on March 1 at its plants in Yazoo City, MS, and Billingham, Teesside, UK.

Lower natural gas prices and the approach of the spring planting season have prompted Terra Industries to plan the restart of ammonia production on March 1 at its plants in Yazoo City, MS, and Billingham, Teesside, UK.

Strong support from a day-earlier screen spike and the continued approach of Tropical Storm Emily to the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) production area had only limited success in sustaining firmer prices in the East Wednesday. But a record-setting heat wave occupying much of the West was more successful in generating the day’s biggest price increases in that region.

Taking more of a wait-and-see approach ahead of Thursday morning’s storage report, August natural gas futures traded within a slim 12.5-cent range on Wednesday before settling at $7.087, up a mere 1.4 cents on the day.

There had been a little doubt about whether the approach of a winter storm in the Midwest/Plains region and colder temperatures in the Northeast and parts of the West would be able to overcome the negativity of screen losses totaling about 60 cents over the course of Thursday and Monday and generate a price rally.

Western governors Tuesday announced they have unanimously agreed to pursue a regional approach to boosting renewable energy sources and energy efficiency through the bipartisan Western Governors’ Association (WGA), according to an announcement from California’s Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, co-leader of the effort along with New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, the current chairman of the governors’ group.

Vowing to take a cooperative approach, Enbridge Inc. announced plans last week to submit an application to the state of Alaska to compete for a commercial agreement to build and operate the 750-mile in-state portion of the Alaska Highway Pipeline Project from Prudhoe Bay to the Alaska-Yukon border.