Behind

Devon Energy Corp. said it is moving forward with its winter exploration program in Canada’s Mackenzie Delta, partnering with Shell Canada for one well and participating on a separate license with Petro-Canada on a second well.

There was a lot of contrast in price movement Thursday. After leaving the rest of the market way behind with numbers that had topped $20 in some cases the day before, Northeast citygates started to come back down to earth with multi-dollar plunges. Meanwhile, most other points (outside the Rockies) soared by about 30 cents or more. Some Gulf Coast pipes saw dollar-plus advances, with others there and in the Midcontinent rising nearly a dollar.

Devon Energy Corp. said Thursday that it is moving forward with its winter exploration program in Canada’s Mackenzie Delta, partnering with Shell Canada for one well and participating on a separate license with Petro-Canada on a second well.

While many energy companies have been cowering behind ugly third quarter financial results, Entergy Corp. on Wednesday stood out in the crowd with substantially higher earnings. In fact, operational earnings per share were up 21%, setting a new company record for third quarter.

California’s energy infrastructure has sufficient upgrades to stave off any repeat of the 2000-2001 crisis through the next two to three years, but failure of federal and state regulatory policy to keep pace casts a lot of uncertainty over the structural advances, according to state energy official and a gas utility executive who spoke to an energy industry conference in San Francisco Friday.

Northern Appalachian natural gas production lags considerably behind the ramp up in the Rocky Mountains, but West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise said that he is pushing for his state to one day compete head-to-head with Wyoming. Wise spoke Tuesday in Charleston, WV as keynote for the Conference on Natural Gas from Coal Seams in the Northern Appalachian Basin.

Northern Appalachian natural gas production lags considerably behind the ramp up in the Rocky Mountains, but West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise said that he is pushing for his state to one day compete head-to-head with Wyoming. Wise spoke Tuesday in Charleston, WV as keynote for the Conference on Natural Gas from Coal Seams in the Northern Appalachian Basin.

In a letter to employees Monday, which was later filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), El Paso Corp. Chairman William Wise attempted to dispel any fears that the energy giant was in financial trouble, assuring workers it had about $1.5 billion of readily available cash, a balance sheet and credit profile that were “strong and improving,” an investment grade credit rating, and “adequate financial resources” to meet all of the company’s obligations and to maintain “profitable operations” during the current crisis facing the industry.

In a letter to employees Monday, which was later filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), El Paso Corp. Chairman William Wise attempted to dispel any fears that the energy giant was in financial trouble, assuring workers it had about $1.5 billion of readily available cash, a balance sheet and credit profile that were “strong and improving,” an investment grade credit rating, and “adequate financial resources” to meet all of the company’s obligations and to maintain “profitable operations” during the current crisis facing the industry.