August

The Western Gulf of Mexico lease sale 180 held in August by the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) “while not horrible, was not as spectacular as one might have originally thought,” according to a Stat of the Week by Raymond James energy analysts. The analysts noted that despite the “record levels of cash flow, pristine balance sheets, and what appears to be a general lack of prospects” for exploration and production companies, the “firecracker lease sales seem to have fizzled out.”

FERC cleaned house last week at its final regular meeting before its August hiatus, voting out a number of certificates, preliminary determinations and a Section 3 authorization for pipeline projects of Florida Gas Transmission (FGT), PG&E Transmission Northwest Corp., Colorado Interstate Gas Co. (CIG), Algonquin Gas Transmission/Texas Eastern Transmission (Tetco) and Otay Mesa Generating Co. LLC.

Dropping beneath $4.00 for the first time since early August, natural gas futures continued on the slippery slope downward Friday as traders pressured the market lower for the third straight day. With Friday’s 8.1-cent decline and $3.973 close, the June contract has tumbled 96.7 cents since becoming spot contract at Nymex a month ago. June expires at 3:10 p.m. (EDT) today.

Apache Corp. reported that Jon W. Sauer has been promoted to vice president-tax. Sauer joined Apache as manager of tax in August 1992. He was promoted to director in 1997. Prior to joining Apache, he was tax manager at Swift Energy Co.

The major explosion on the El Paso Natural Gas system in NewMexico last August was a “major shock” to gas supplies in theSouthwest and placed an “extreme burden” on the region’s pipelinenetwork. Although gas prices in southern California soaredtemporarily, “widespread shortages” were avoided due to a”combination of market adjustments,” such as reliance on gas fromstorage, alternate transportation routing and fuel switching, theEnergy Information Administration said last week.

The Democrats barely mentioned the word “energy” in theirplatform at the August convention, but President Clinton put thespotlight on energy issues last week in Washington with hisdecision to release 30 million barrels of crude oil from theStrategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), as well as a record $400 millionof funding for energy assistance to low-income households for thiswinter.

The explosion and fire on El Paso Natural Gas’ system insoutheast New Mexico in August, which killed 12 people, underscoresthe need for a newer gas pipeline infrastructure in the UnitedStates, according to a Department of Energy (DOE) report releasedlast week.

The explosion and fire on El Paso Natural Gas’ system insoutheast New Mexico in August, which killed 12 people, underscoresthe need for a newer gas pipeline infrastructure in the UnitedStates, according to a Department of Energy (DOE) report releasedthis week.

The Democrats hardly mentioned the word “energy” in theirplatform at the August convention, but President Clinton last weektried to make up for that omission by ordering the release of 30million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve(SPR), as well as a record $400 million of funding for energyassistance to low-income households for this winter.