Arctic

Opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas development would have little impact on the proposed Alaska gas pipeline project, but it probably would save U.S. taxpayers about $8 billion/year in oil expenditures in 2025, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a special report prepared at the request of Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA), chairman of the House Committee on Resources.

After solidly predicting the Arctic cold front that has frozen New England (see NGI, Jan. 12), Joe Bastardi, senior meteorologist for AccuWeather.com, said last week that the region is not out of the woods yet.

After nailing two weeks ago in his forecast that New England would receive a large arctic push last week (see Daily GPI, Jan. 7), Joe Bastardi, senior meteorologist for AccuWeather.com, said Tuesday that the region is not out of the woods yet.

In response to the big arctic freeze across the Pacific Northwest, Bellevue, WA-based Puget Sound Energy reported Tuesday an all-time record natural gas send-out of 716 MMcf last Sunday, and a near-record electricity send-out of 4,540 MW Monday in its territory in western Washington, surrounding the greater Seattle metropolitan area.

Key legislative provisions favorable to natural gas production are winding up on the cutting-room floor as House-Senate negotiations over a broad energy bill come down to the wire.

Growth will be built into the Canadian Arctic natural gas project, with the sponsors expecting it to lay the foundations for a new branch of the industry spanning the 800-mile length of the proposed Mackenzie Valley pipeline.

The extended arctic cold blast has put a strain on natural gas and electricity local distribution companies (LDC) across the eastern third of the United States as consumers crank up their heat to counteract single-digit temperatures in many locations. Many LDCs are taking precautions as old records are broken for gas sendout and winter power demand.

With Canada already around freezing and sending those semi-arctic conditions south of the border, traders braced for a week of cold with price upticks Monday that were fairly moderate, around a dime or less in a majority of instances. But the Rockies market continued its torrid pace from last week with further spikes, and was joined in double-digit gains by San Juan Basin, Pacific Northwest and Western Canada points and some Northeast citygates.

Taking the next logical step for the transportation of Canadian arctic natural gas, the Mackenzie Delta Producers Group, which consists of some of the heavy hitters within the oil and gas industry, said last Thursday that it has awarded the conceptual and preliminary engineering contract for the Mackenzie Gas Project to COLTKBR, a long-term joint venture of Colt Engineering Corp. and Kellogg Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton. The move brings the project a step closer to fruition and a step ahead of the competition in Alaska.