Component

Houston Exploration Co. plans to revise its second and third quarter cash flow statements by $60 million because it misclassified a component of its asset exchange with KeySpan Corp. in June. KeySpan announced last year it would sell its ownership stake in the producer, and last May the companies completed a $449 million share transfer exchange that reduced KeySpan’s ownership from 55% to 24% (see Daily GPI, May 26, Nov. 22).

Houston Exploration Co. plans to revise its second and third quarter cash flow statements by $60 million because it misclassified a component of its asset exchange with KeySpan Corp. in June. KeySpan announced last year it would sell its ownership stake in the producer, and last May the companies completed a $449 million share transfer exchange that reduced KeySpan’s ownership from 55% to 24% (see Daily GPI, May 26, Nov. 22).

Exploration and development (E&D) spending, the largest component of capital expenditures for many of the top U.S. independents, grew 32% in the first six months of 2004 versus a year earlier, and capital budgets are expected to keep climbing, according to a survey by Raymond James’ analysts.

EOG Resources Inc. plans to grow its production 6.5% in 2004, 10% in 2005 and 7% in 2006 — and expects North American natural gas to be a key component of the growth, the CEO said Monday.

Westcoast postponed an in-line inspection tool run between Stations 4B and 5, previously set for Thursday (see Daily GPI, July 30) due to failure of a tool component. The pipeline has not yet scheduled a new date for the project but said it will not be before Aug. 6 at the earliest. Westcoast also said its Pine River Gas Plant had shut down around 7 p.m. local time Tuesday due to an electrical failure but as of 6 a.m. Wednesday was processing all available gas with the A and B trains fully online. “The last processing train is currently circulating, and will come online as gas is available in the gathering system,” it said.

Despite experiencing a slight decline in income from its natural gas transmission business, TransCanada PipeLines Ltd. on Friday said its first quarter 2003 earnings marked an 11% increase over the company’s first quarter 2002 results. The company attributed the higher earnings to the strong performance of the power business and reduced net expenses in the corporate segment, partially offset by lower earnings from the transmission segment.

Despite experiencing a slight decline in income from its natural gas transmission business, TransCanada PipeLines Ltd. on Friday said its first quarter 2003 earnings marked an 11% increase over the company’s first quarter 2002 results. The company attributed the higher earnings to the strong performance of the power business and reduced net expenses in the corporate segment, partially offset by lower earnings from the transmission segment.

Industrial demand, particularly for those industries where fuel is an important cost component, is the “wild card” in the natural gas demand picture, according to Energy and Environmental Analysis (EEA), which points out that given the variety of industries using natural gas for different purposes, their reaction to high prices is difficult to summarize. Especially now, when high natural gas prices could prevail for several years, industrial strategy during short-term price spikes in the past may not apply.

Industrial demand, particularly for those industries where fuel is an important cost component, is the “wild card” in the natural gas demand picture, according to Energy and Environmental Analysis (EEA), which points out that given the variety of industries using natural gas for different purposes, their reaction to high prices is difficult to summarize. Especially now, when high natural gas prices could prevail for several years, industrial strategy during short-term price spikes in the past may not apply.