Chose

Mexican state-owned electric utility Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE) chose a unit of Sempra International to construct, own and operate a 500-mile, $1 billion pipeline network to deliver gas to power plants in the northwestern Mexico states of Sonora and Sinaloa.

October natural gas futures values plummeted on Monday after the three hurricanes on the radar Friday all chose a more northerly path over the weekend, sparing the Gulf Coast and U.S. energy interests yet again. Another theory is that the back and forth trading of the last week reflects the normal ebb and flow of a range-bound market. The prompt-month contract Monday reached a low of $3.806 before closing out the regular session at $3.822, down 20.2 cents from Friday’s finish.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger chose an economist to be the newest regulator on the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC). Nancy Ryan, the regulatory body’s current deputy executive director for policy, gives the CPUC a full complement of regulators a month after the Senate refused to reconfirm Rachelle Chong, a telecommunications attorney and former member of the Federal Communications Commission, to a full six-year term. Ryan, 49, has expertise in energy markets, climate change policy and the public health and ecological impacts of energy production, and she worked for several years in the environmental sector. The appointment requires Senate confirmation within a year’s time. Ryan has been a member of the CPUC management team since January 2006 when she began as CPUC President Michael Peevey’s chief energy adviser and served as his chief of staff from April 2007 to February 2009.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger chose an economist to be newest regulator on the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC). Nancy Ryan, the regulatory body’s current deputy executive director for policy, gives the CPUC a full complement of regulators a month after the Senate refused to reconfirm Rachelle Chong, a telecommunications attorney and former member of the Federal Communications Commission, to a full six-year term.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger chose an economist to be newest regulator on the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC). Nancy Ryan, the regulatory body’s current deputy executive director for policy, gives the CPUC a full complement of regulators a month after the Senate refused to reconfirm Rachelle Chong, a telecommunications attorney and former member of the Federal Communications Commission, to a full six-year term.

Natural gas futures traders chose to play it close to the vest during the June contract’s first regular session action as the prompt-month contract, possibly opting to wait for fresh storage news Thursday morning before making their next move. Futures closed Wednesday at $3.403, down 3.7 cents from Tuesday’s finish.

Alberta regulators chose the province’s bitumen reserves over natural gas last week, ordering EnCana Corp. and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. to shut in 121 gas wells south of Fort McMurray. The Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) concluded that future gas production from the Cold Lake Oil Sands Area Clearwater Formation “presents an unacceptable risk to a much larger bitumen resource” adjacent to the gas.

Erasing last week’s significant gains, November natural gas futures soared higher Monday as traders chose to focus on near-term cold instead of the recently released forecasts calling for mild temperatures this winter. November natural gas jumped 78.5 cents, or 13.87% over Friday’s close, to settle at $6.444 Monday.

Just days after the natural gas industry sighed in relief after Hurricane Ophelia chose the Atlantic path instead of the Gulf of Mexico course, Tropical Storm Rita looks as if she might not be as accommodating. Fears over the storm’s projected Gulf path sent futures off to the races in Access trading Sunday night and again on Monday, with October natural gas settling $1.519 higher at $12.663, a new all-time prompt month record.