Chicago

While market experts at GasMart 2009 in Chicago could not come to a consensus on when natural gas prices would move higher in a meaningful way, they did agree that when they do, the market will rocket higher and buyers would be longing for the days when they could have locked in supply in the $3.50-4.50/MMBtu range.

While market experts at GasMart 2009 in Chicago could not come to a consensus on when natural gas prices would move higher in a meaningful way, they did agree that when they do, the market will rocket higher and buyers would be longing for the days when they could have locked in supply in the $3.50-4.50/MMBtu range.

One of the first tasks facing President-elect Barack Obama’s energy and environmental team, which he unveiled Monday in Chicago, will be to review the issue of whether to reinstate the moratorium on oil and natural gas development in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), Obama said.

Global trading exchange competitors Atlanta-based IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) and Chicago-based CME Group saw very different Novembers as ICE recorded a 8.9% average daily volume (ADV) increase from November 2007, while CME posted a 29% drop when comparing the same two months.

Global trading exchange competitors Atlanta-based IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) and Chicago-based CME Group saw very different Novembers as ICE recorded a 8.9% average daily volume (ADV) increase from November 2007, while CME posted a 29% drop when comparing the same two months.

With the initial 30-day negotiating period expired, CME Group Inc., owner of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and Nymex Holdings Inc., owner of the New York Mercantile Exchange, early last week agreed to extend talks regarding CME’s potential acquisition of Nymex until March 15.

With the initial 30-day negotiating period set to expire, CME Group Inc., owner of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and Nymex Holdings Inc., owner of the New York Mercantile Exchange, on Tuesday have agreed to extend talks regarding CME’s potential acquisition of Nymex until March 15, they said Tuesday.

Zurich, Switzerland-based ABB is selling its Lummus Global business to Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. (CB&I) for $950 million, the company said. Lummus provides engineering, procurement and construction management services to the upstream and downstream oil and gas, petrochemical and refining industries. The sale, which is subject to regulatory and CB&I shareholder approval, is intended to further focus ABB on its core business in power automation technology, the company said. Netherlands-based CB&I will purchase the entire Lummus Global business, which employs about 2,400 and had reported revenues of $988 million in 2006. ABB’s automation and power businesses remain committed to the oil and gas sector, the company said. In connection with the divestment of Lummus, ABB said it has discovered certain suspect payments in a number of countries. ABB reported these suspected payments to the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission, and is cooperating fully with the authorities, while continuing its internal investigations and compliance reviews. ABB said it retains liability for potential fines and penalties.

Reading between the lines from the experts gathered at GasMart 2007 in Chicago last week, domestic and Canadian natural gas production are at their limits and demand is increasing. Pipelines from the far north are years, possibly multiple decades or lifetimes away. Conventional wisdom is that liquefied natural gas (LNG) from overseas will fill in the gap; but will it? And what happens if it doesn’t?