Breakdown

Encana Corp. has close to 11.7 million net acres from which to pick and choose for development in North America’s onshore, but the Horn River Basin in British Columbia (BC) is drawing special attention, in part because of the promise it holds for natural gas demand in the oilsands, as well as promising liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, company officials said Tuesday.

An estimate of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) contained in the Marcellus Shale issued this week by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) will be included in the next Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Annual Energy Outlook (AEO), according to EIA.

As part of a stepped-up Capitol Hill investigation into the financial breakdown of the once-powerful Enron Corp., the chairmen of two House panels have called on the energy trader’s outside auditor, Arthur Andersen LLP, to turn over audit records and to make certain employees available to committee staff for interviews. They also have asked former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling to be on hand for a visit.

Cool fall weather and rapid breakdown of the storm formerlyknown as Hurricane Gordon were enough to take the wind out of thecash market’s sails yesterday as prices plummeted across the board.

What are the chances that the U.S. would experience yet anotherwarmer-than-normal winter after just having two in a row?Apparently they’re pretty good right now, according to a new winterweather forecast released last week by the National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration. One thing is certain: the La Ninatropical Pacific sea temperature event, which is expected toinfluence this winter’s weather, will throw a monkey wrench intoregional weather forecasting models.