Becoming

John Norris, chairman of the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) and a close friend of President-elect Obama, has a “pretty good shot” at becoming a FERC commissioner, if not the chairman “down the road,” Washington sources said Tuesday.

The days of $3/MMBtu natural gas may be gone, but with unconventional U.S. gas production becoming economic at $6-7/MMBtu, medium-term domestic prices aren’t likely to match the $18-20 highs fetched by liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes overseas — which in turn could deter some LNG imports for as long as five years, according to energy analysts.

Prices for natural gas, crude oil and electricity, which already are alarmingly high, are expected to continue their upward climb through the end of the year or longer, according to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Short-Term Energy Outlook for July.

In another move to prevent its proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) project from becoming a political football kicked between Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski and FERC, NorthernStar Natural Gas urged the federal regulators Feb. 20 to respond to the governor quickly on his concerns about LNG siting in Oregon generally, and particularly NorthernStar’s proposed Bradwood Landing terminal along the Columbia River. NorthernStar sent a four-page letter to FERC from its Washington, DC-based legal counsel Van Ness Feldman.

In another move to prevent its proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) project from becoming a political football kicked between Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski and FERC, NorthernStar Natural Gas urged the federal regulators last Wednesday to respond to the governor quickly on his concerns about LNG siting in Oregon generally, and particularly NorthernStar’s proposed Bradwood Landing terminal along the Columbia River. NorthernStar sent a four-page letter to FERC from its Washington, DC-based legal counsel Van Ness Feldman.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is clearly becoming a more freely traded flexible worldwide commodity that will reshape the global market’s traditional pricing and contracting prices — and most of the new supplies will be flowing to North America, according to Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA).

Official trade data is starting to confirm unofficial suspicions among Canadians that American imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) are becoming a competitive force on the North American market.

Official trade data is starting to confirm unofficial suspicions among Canadians that American imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) are becoming a competitive force on the North American market.

With the heat wave still in effect in a number of U.S. regions and conditions in the tropics becoming more friendly for hurricane development, natural gas futures traders on Friday extended Thursday’s rally. The September contract recorded a high of $6.950 before closing out the day at $6.820, up 23.4 cents from Thursday’s close and 73 cents higher than the previous Friday’s finish.