Confidence

The industry has little confidence that the Obama administration will revise its proposed five-year offshore leasing plan to include potentially prolific areas that historically have been off-limits, an official with the American Petroleum Institute (API) said Tuesday.

With the short time remaining on the legislative calendar before the November elections, even Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell appears to have lost confidence that a deal will emerge in the state legislature to enact a severance tax on the state’s oil and gas production.

Expressing confidence that his energy projects ultimately will win, a lead manager for Oregon’s proposed Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal and a related 234-mile natural gas transmission pipeline to interconnect with the regional gas grid told NGI that an ongoing state-federal fight in a district court in Eugene, OR, likely will not be resolved until mid-2011. In the meantime there are other permits that Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline will be pursuing that won’t be finished until the same time next year.

With the short time remaining on the legislative calendar before the November elections, even Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell appears to have lost confidence that a deal will emerge in the state legislature to enact a severance tax on the state’s oil and gas production.

With improved credit markets and increased CEO confidence, the U.S. market for oil and gas mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in 2Q2010 reached its highest level in more than six quarters, according to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC).

With improved credit markets and increased CEO confidence, the U.S. market for oil and gas mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in 2Q2010 reached its highest level in more than six quarters, according to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC).

Energy Transfer Partners LP’s (ETP) proposed 180-mile Tiger natural gas pipeline to tap the Haynesville Shale received another vote of confidence Tuesday in the form of a 10-year contract with an undisclosed shipper to transport 300 MMcf/d, bringing total capacity commitments on the project to at least 1.8 Bcf/d.

Signs of recovery in some sectors of the U.S. economy and rising consumer confidence have driven oil prices steadily higher in recent months, but other areas of the energy sector, including natural gas, have yet to be impacted by the “hope premium,” according to a report issued last week by Ernst & Young’s Americas Oil & Gas Center.

Signs of recovery in some sectors of the U.S. economy and rising consumer confidence have driven oil prices steadily higher in recent months, but other areas of the energy sector, including natural gas, have yet to be impacted by the “hope premium,” according to a report issued Monday by Ernst & Young’s Americas Oil & Gas Center.