Changing

The 27-year-old U.S. system to measure and report oil and natural gas reserves has failed to keep pace with a changing, increasingly global energy industry and, as a result, it has fallen short of accurately valuing companies’ performance and strategies, according to a study by Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA).

Failing to make up their mind on direction Tuesday, traders pushed February natural gas to a low on the day of $6.245 as of 11:30 a.m. (EST) before changing directions to explore higher.

Most spot market points lost 5-15 cents on Thursday in response to the National Hurricane Center’s fluctuating storm track forecasts for Hurricane Ivan, which according to the 5 p.m. EDT prediction, now is expected to run up the far eastern Gulf of Mexico, parallel to the Florida west coast, and make landfall on the Florida panhandle Tuesday night.

A week after changing its imbalance tolerance range to 20% pack and zero draft to combat falling linepack (see Daily GPI, March 23), Westcoast had the normal range of 10% pack and 10% draft in effect again Monday.

Like others in the natural gas industry, market centers/hubs serving North America have gone through a rough patch in recent years, but most have managed to prosper by quickly adapting to changes in the market, according to a new report by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA said transportation volumes and overall business activity by market centers in mid-2003 either equaled or surpassed previous levels.

Like others in the natural gas industry, market centers/hubs serving North America have gone through a rough patch in recent years, but most have managed to recover, according to a new report by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA said transportation volumes and overall business activity by market centers in mid-2003 either equaled or surpassed previous levels.

Changing weather patterns helped produce a mixed cash market Monday, but gains that ranged up to about a quarter handily outweighed the flat to mildly lower points that were concentrated in the Midcontinent/Midwest.

El Paso Corp.’s decision early this year to cut spending in U.S. exploration and production (E&P) and focus more on South Texas, the deepwater Gulf of Mexico and coalbed methane (CBM) has proven to be a challenge for management as it figures out how to make the best with the least amount of money possible.

El Paso Corp.’s decision early this year to cut spending in U.S. exploration and production (E&P) and focus more on South Texas, the deepwater Gulf of Mexico and coalbed methane (CBM) has proven to be a challenge for management as it figures out how to make the best with the least amount of money possible. Because its E&P has required a lot of cash, which is in short supply at El Paso, some analysts now suggest that the E&P unit could be spun off, sold or downsized by the end of 2004.