Coal

Total natural gas used for power generation in the United States was down 14% between January and July 2013 compared with the same seven month period in 2012, due primarily to higher gas prices relative to coal prices this year, according to a report issued Wednesday by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday issued long-awaitedproposed rulesfor greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for new power plants, leaving gas-fired plants mostly unaffected but making construction of new coal-fired plants problematic.

Former Colorado regulator Ron Binz, nominated for FERC chairman, said he was bullish on natural gas and expects applications for liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals to proceed through the agency as usual.

With proper regulation, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from shale gas operations should represent only a small part of the total carbon footprint of shale gas and would fall within the nontraded sector of the United Kingdom’s carbon budgets, according to the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC).

Responding to multiple questions from a New York audience Monday on issues surrounding natural gas production, Energy Department Secretary Ernest Moniz said the fuel is both “part of the problem” and “part of the solution,” and it has a strong role to play in underpinning the U.S. economy.

Those wondering about future natural gas burn by power utilities — how much and when — should look to three factors for insight: renewable generation growth, coal-fired plant retirements, and revisions to federal air emissions regulations, analysts at Bernstein Research said in a note.

Driven by more stringent environmental regulations and low-priced natural gas, many aging coal-fired generation plants will be closed during the next seven years, creating a business for decommissioning services that will exceed $5 billion, according to a report by Boulder, CO-based Navigant Research.

A heatwave in the Northeast in the middle of July led to regional wholesale gas and power price spikes, as well as near-record gas consumption by Northeast power generators. However, natural gas spot prices averaged $3.62/MMBtu at the Henry Hub during the month, marking a 21-cent decline from June, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Consol Energy has drilled its first Upper Devonian Shale well, in Greene County, PA, with results that bode well for the 300,000 acres it controls with commercial Upper Devonian potential.