Begins

As a competing plant up the coast at the mouth of Columbia River begins the FERC pre-filing process, proponents of the Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal project have had to delay by three months their filing to the federal regulatory agency for additional pre-filing environmental review work on a separate-but-affiliated 230-mile large-diameter pipeline that will connect with the LNG terminal.

Before Excelerate Energy LLC begins construction on its Northeast Gateway Deepwater Port (Northeast Port) to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) it will begin deploying two marine mammal acoustic detection systems. The $16 million project is designed primarily to protect resources of the Gerry E. Studds Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and surrounding areas. This includes marine mammals, particularly endangered Right whales, that frequent Massachusetts Bay.

Before Excelerate Energy LLC begins construction on its Northeast Gateway Deepwater Port (Northeast Port) to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) it will begin deploying two marine mammal acoustic detection systems. The $16 million project is designed primarily to protect resources of the Gerry E. Studds Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and surrounding areas. This includes marine mammals, particularly endangered Right whales, that frequent Massachusetts Bay.

Chiming in on the Atlantic hurricane season, which begins Thursday, Andover, MA-based WSI Corp. agreed with other forecasters that the tropical season should be “another active” one, but that it should pale in comparison to last year’s tally of 27 named storms.

Will electronic energy traders migrate back to old standby Nymex once it begins electronic trading on the Globex system, or will the market be split, with many continuing to trade on the IntercontinentalExchange (ICE), which has offered electronic trading since early 2000? The main thing the protagonists agree on is that “it will be an interesting year.”

As the trial of Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay and ex-CEO Jeffrey Skilling begins to move into its final days, the defense called more witnesses on Thursday to counter the government’s claims against the two former chiefs. The trial is expected to resume on Monday, and it could go to the jury in less than two weeks.

As it begins to settle in as a pure-play exploration and production company, Kerr-McGee Corp. reported Wednesday that natural gas output surged 51% over a year ago, mostly on the acquisition of Denver-based Westport Resources Inc. last year (see Daily GPI, April 8, 2004), and the ramp-up of production at Red Hawk in the deepwater of the Gulf of Mexico.

One year after Royal Dutch/Shell Group began downgrading its worldwide oil and natural gas reserves, the company said last week it has begun a recruitment effort to hire more than 1,000 petroleum engineers to bolster the exploration and production (E&P) unit.

One year after Royal Dutch/Shell Group began downgrading its worldwide oil and natural gas reserves, the company said Tuesday it has begun a recruitment effort to hire more than 1,000 petroleum engineers to bolster the exploration and production (E&P) unit.