Centered

Sempra Energy CEO Debra Reed on Thursday outlined the company’s strategy, which is centered around the surge in North American natural gas supplies, particularly from U.S. shale plays. Reed sees opportunity in Mexico, where Sempra already holds a big stake, as that country migrates from oil to natural gas use.

BG Group, whose global expertise is centered around natural gas, on Wednesday said it plans to slash U.S. drilling, as well as other global gas-weighted projects, because of low commodity prices.

BG Group, whose global expertise is centered around natural gas, said it plans to slash U.S. drilling, as well as other global gas-weighted projects, because of low commodity prices.

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) within the oilfield services sector should pick up steam over the next one to two years, with most of the activity centered in North America, according to a survey by Ernst & Young.

Calling for more focus and money centered on natural gas pipeline safety, consumer organizations urged California regulators Wednesday to abandon their previous approval of a $1 billion switch to an advanced metering system at Sempra Energy’s Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas).

There was more distrust stemming from the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) gas transmission pipeline catastrophe three weeks after the tragic event, and it centered in San Jose, CA, the population and communications center of the peninsula region stretching from the Silicon Valley to the southern end of San Francisco.

Alberta-based Stealth Ventures Ltd. has entered into an agreement with Clean Coal Ltd. (CCL), for the development of an underground coal gasification (UCG) project in the Cumberland Basin of Nova Scotia. The coal would be burned in place to create gas, rather than mining it for processing on the surface.

FERC last Thursday set a paper hearing on a remand of a long-running case centered on millions of dollars in Enron-era wholesale power contracts that western power companies protested tied them to artificially high prices. The Commission action came just 14 days after it officially received the remand of its decision to uphold the contracts. The paper hearing will be held in abeyance, however, while parties attempt a settlement of the seven-year old case.

With its multi-state utility operations centered in geographical areas undergoing big pushes for renewable energy and conservation programs, Minnesota-based Xcel Energy will be deemphasizing the use of natural gas and coal to fuel its power fleet, according to CEO Dick Kelly, who spoke last Tuesday at the Merrill Lynch Power and Gas Leaders Conference in New York City. As a result, Xcel also will be adding to its $2.4 billion high-voltage electric transmission system.