Celebrating

While critics and environmental activists are unhappy, the oil and natural gas industry is celebrating long-awaited changes in New Mexico’s rules for disposing drilling waste known as the “pit rule.” Fighting for changes in tougher requirements imposed by a previous governor, the New Mexico Oil/Gas Association (NMOGA) hailed changes made earlier this month.

Sempra Energy senior officials were popping superlatives, if not champagne corks, Friday, celebrating the first shipments for their liquefied natural gas (LNG) West Coast project and the western half of the Rockies Express Pipeline, along with an increase in first-quarter net income compared to the same period in 2007 ($242 million, or 92 cents/share, versus $228 million, or 86 cents/share, last year).

Sempra Energy senior officials were popping superlatives, if not champagne corks, Friday, celebrating the first shipments for their liquefied natural gas (LNG) West Coast project and the western half of the Rockies Express Pipeline, along with an increase in first-quarter net income compared to the same period in 2007 ($242 million, or 92 cents/share, versus $228 million, or 86 cents/share, last year).

Bullish energy traders must have been celebrating their good fortune Thursday as they received supportive price news from the same man for the second time in a little more than a week. AccuWeather.com Chief Long-Range Forecaster Joe Bastardi and his team said Thursday that they expect this summer to be hotter than normal across a large part of the United States, including the most heavily populated areas of the Northeast.

Bullish energy traders must have been celebrating their good fortune Thursday as they received supportive price news from the same man for the second time in a little more than a week. AccuWeather.com Chief Long-Range Forecaster Joe Bastardi and his team said last week that they expect this summer to be hotter than normal across a large part of the United States, including the most heavily populated areas of the Northeast.

Coming out of the Independence Day holiday weekend, August natural gas futures on Wednesday gave bears further reason to continue celebrating as the contract dropped significantly lower on the lack of hot weather and nearly nonexistent storm activity. After equaling the $5.750 spot month low from May late in Wednesday’s session, the prompt-month closed out the day at $5.765, down 33.9 cents.