Conference

When natural gas buyers and sellers get together at an industry conference, it’s a good bet that many will have been on either side of numerous deals throughout their careers. Bill Griffith, Midwest regional director for BP Gas & Power, told GasMart 2007 attendees in Chicago Friday that many of his gas customers have worked in the energy patch on the marketing and trading side. “They’re pretty smart; they know all our stories,” he quipped.

When natural gas buyers and sellers get together at an industry conference, it’s a good bet that many will have been on either side of numerous deals throughout their careers. Bill Griffith, Midwest regional director for BP Gas & Power, told GasMart 2007 attendees in Chicago last week that many of his gas customers have worked in the energy patch on the marketing and trading side. “They’re pretty smart; they know all our stories,” he quipped.

About 43% of respondents to an informal electronic poll of attendees at one independent producers session at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston last week found that they expect commodity prices to stay roughly the same for the next three to five years. However, 38% of the respondents think that oil prices will drop back to $40-60/bbl soon.

Despite a dearth of hurricane activity in 2006, speakers on a storm preparedness panel at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston last week still had plenty to talk about. After all, the industry remains on the mend from the momentous 2005 hurricane season and digesting the lessons learned from the one-two punch of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

About 43% of respondents to an informal electronic poll of attendees at one independent producers session at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston Wednesday found that they expect commodity prices to stay roughly the same for the next three to five years. However, 38% of the respondents think that oil prices will drop back to $40-60/bbl soon.

Despite a dearth of hurricane activity in 2006, speakers on a storm preparedness panel at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston Tuesday still had plenty to talk about. After all, the industry remains on the mend from the momentous 2005 hurricane season and digesting the lessons learned from the one-two punch of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Three Democratic governors, appearing at a news conference Friday at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, for the Apollo Alliance, called for an ambitious state-directed jobs and energy plan including development of more renewable energy and energy efficiency programs.

After considering the results of an often contentious technical conference last fall and a settlement agreement, FERC approved new premium hourly firm transportation and daily balancing services proposed by El Paso Natural Gas to provide customers with greater flexibility to cover swings in demand while ensuring system reliability. However, the Commission made some modifications to the penalties El Paso intended to impose and to the tolerance levels for such penalties.

TXU Corp. executives touted recent efforts to turn their company around during a fourth quarter earnings conference call last week, and based on financial results the work has paid off handsomely. Besides announcing TXU’s giant steps upward in earnings last year, company executives touted an aggressive coal-fired plant building program and detailed the company’s natural gas hedging program that limits fuel risk.