Compares

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) said it met an industry-leading 30-minute response time criteria for handling natural gas leaks 85% of the time in August. The response time compares to a 58.4% result in August 2011. The San Francisco-based combination utility said it is now ranked in the top quartile for meeting benchmarking criteria established by the American Gas Association (AGA). PG&E applied a more stringent standard in seeking to meet the 30-minute response time, given that the industry and AGA use 60 minutes as the usual test of responsiveness, said a PG&E spokesperson. Executive Vice President Nick Stavropoulos said the utility is seeking to “ease any anxiety” for customers regarding leaking gas.

Noting that total working gas storage capacity on its system is 60.0 Bcf, Southern Natural Gas said its inventory stood at 42.0 Bcf as of May 4, or 70% of capacity. That compares with 25.5 Bcf (43%) and 24.4 Bcf (41%) at the comparable stages of the 2005 and 2004 injection seasons respectively, Southern said. Storage is now 16.5 Bcf ahead of the year-ago level, and at historical injection rates, Southern projects that maximum storage capacity could be reached before mid-summer. “If this trend continues, please note that it might be necessary to implement the following restrictions on…[certain] types of transactions to preserve firm obligations and interruptible quantities that have already been accepted,” the pipeline said in a posting Wednesday. See the bulletin board for details on potential transaction restrictions.

Oil and gas drilling in North America appears to be on the upswing, according to oil and gas industry service companies that keep track of offshore and onshore statistics. Offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico was up in July more than 5% over a year ago, according to GlobalSantaFe Corp.; Baker Hughes. Inc. found that the number of rigs actively exploring domestically has increased since the beginning of the month; and the Canadian service sector reports a summer drilling boom is more than making up for a slow spring.

The American Gas Association reported a 95 Bcf injection into the nation’s natural gas storage facilities last week, which compares to a 72 Bcf injection during the same week a year ago. The injection came in slightly above consensus estimates around 85 Bcf and should be a bit of a reality check for traders caught up in the hype surrounding the impact the terrorist attacks might have on international crude supplies. However, the New York Mercantile Exchange remains closed and there was still no word yesterday evening on whether the exchange would attempt to open its doors on Thursday (see related story).

PaineWebber has revised its composite spot forecast for naturalgas prices upwards by eight cents to $2.20/MMBtu for the remainderof the year. This compares to an industry consensus of $2.08/MMBtu.