Builds

June natural gas is expected to open 3 cents lower Friday morning at $2.98 as traders grapple with high production, high inventories, and relatively high prices. Overnight oil markets slumped.

October natural gas is expected to open unchanged at $3.82 as traders see both a soft fundamental and weak technical picture.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett on Wednesday added his voice to the chorus of state officials calling for construction of a petrochemical complex, including an ethane cracker, in Beaver County, PA.

The two state chief executives agreed that environmental safeguards are imperative from both the public’s and the industry’s perspective. They offered their views during a keynote panel discussion moderated by the huge annual energy confab’s founder Daniel Yergin, the well-known global energy author/expert.

While Thursday’s reported 58 Bcf natural gas storage injection for the week ended Sept. 5 came nowhere close to the 102 Bcf and 90 Bcf builds of the previous two weeks, it came in slightly above some industry projections, which were set based on significant shut-ins from the Gulf of Mexico related to Hurricane Gustav. Following the bearish build, October natural gas futures spiraled lower.

A day after filing an application with FERC to build the Pine Prairie Energy Center, a 24 Bcf capacity high-deliverability, salt dome storage facility near the Henry Hub, Sempra Energy announced the purchase of another proposed storage project in the region, Liberty Gas Storage in Calcasieu Parish, LA, from HNG Storage for an undisclosed sum.

Constellation Energy Group has consolidated three subsidiaries, Alliance Energy Services, Blackhawk Energy Services and Kaztex Energy Management, into the new Constellation NewEnergy-Gas Division, a full-service provider of natural gas supply, transportation and related services to businesses throughout North America. The company said the move would result in operational efficiencies and provide improved brand recognition.

Constellation Energy Group has consolidated three subsidiaries, Alliance Energy Services, Blackhawk Energy Services and Kaztex Energy Management, into the new Constellation NewEnergy-Gas Division, a full-service provider of natural gas supply, transportation and related services to businesses throughout North America. The company said the move would result in operational efficiencies and provide improved brand recognition.

Alabama Gov. Robert Riley last week warned FERC and the state port authority that he would block the sale of state-owned land outside of Mobile, AL, to ExxonMobil Corp. to site a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal unless the agency first conducts an independent, site-specific study of the potential hazards facing the public.