Comes

Gazprom, the dominant supplier of pipeline gas for Russia, the former Soviet states and much of western Europe, has been a sleeping bear when it comes to LNG (liquefied natural gas). That is about to change as Russia’s gas titan lays the groundwork for a U.S. gas marketing and trading operation with an office in Houston and, ultimately, all the trappings of any other gas marketer.

Gazprom, the dominant supplier of pipeline gas to Russia, the former Soviet states and much of western Europe, has been a sleeping bear when it comes to LNG (liquefied natural gas). That is about to change as Russia’s gas titan lays the groundwork for a U.S. gas marketing and trading operation with an office in Houston and, ultimately, all the trappings of any other gas marketer.

The combined market capitalization of Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and its latest acquisition targets — Kerr-McGee Corp. and Western Gas Resources Inc. — comes to nearly $41 billion, almost double that of Anadarko alone and rivaling EnCana Corp. at $42.28 billion.

Dallas-based Atmos Energy may be the biggest pure gas utility company in the United States, but size is definitely not the name of the game when it comes to the company’s marketing and trading business. A focus on customer service and low risk transaction management will be fundamental tenets of the operation going forward, said Mark H. Johnson, the new head of Atmos’ nonregulated division.

Pending Senate legislation reauthorizing the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) comes up short because it fails to give the agency the authority to oversee over-the-counter (OTC) natural gas trades, including forward contracts, swaps and options, an industrial energy consumers group told Senate leaders who crafted the bill.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but “the bears were again proven wrong” when it comes to exploration and development (E&D) spending, says Raymond James & Associates in its weekly research note. In fact, say the firm’s energy analysts, E&D spending for their selected universe of companies posted 41% growth over 2004.

The scandal that rocked the energy trading world and defined “off balance sheet transactions” comes full circle Monday, Jan. 30, 2006 when former Enron Corp. Chairman Kenneth Lay and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling begin their long-awaited trial in Houston. An estimated 200 million pages of documents have been submitted, 300 potential witnesses may be called to testify, and prosecutors have named more than 100 co-conspirators in a trial expected to last up to four months.

The U.S. needs to “speak with one voice” when it comes to approving and regulating liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals, and that “one voice” is found in the federal government, two gas industry associations told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Wednesday in an amicus brief filed in support of FERC in its jurisdictional battle with the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC).

The U.S. needs to “speak with one voice” when it comes to approving and regulating liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals, and that “one voice” is found in the federal government, two gas industry associations told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Wednesday in an amicus brief filed in support of FERC in its jurisdictional battle with the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC).