Consultant

Weather normalized gas demand this winter has exceeded gas supply by about 750 MMcf/d on average, according to a Monthly Energy Outlook by Stephen Smith Energy Associates. This gas shortage means that gas prices will have to remain at “demand destruction” levels ($4-$7 at the Henry Hub) this summer in order for storage to be refilled to an adequate level by next fall, the consulting firm said.

A lull in gas storage development is occurring because of the current high cost of injected base gas and changes in the way storage is valued, according to storage expert Jay Evans, president of Houston-based Global Gas Group LLC.

A lull in gas storage development is occurring because of the current high cost of injected base gas and changes in the way storage is valued, according to storage expert Jay Evans, president of Houston-based Global Gas Group LLC.

Natural gas wellhead deliverability is weaker than many observers realize, and the natural gas futures strip is undervalued, according to Kevin Petak, director at Arlington, VA-based consulting firm Energy and Environmental Analysis Inc. (EEA). Petak believes $5 Henry Hub gas prices will arrive very soon — most likely in January or February — and prices should average $5.35 next year.

Natural gas wellhead deliverability is weaker than many observers realize and the natural gas futures strip is undervalued, according to Kevin Petak, director at Arlington, VA-based consulting firm Energy and Environmental Analysis Inc. (EEA).

Gas industry consultant Benjamin Schlesinger, president of Maryland-based Schlesinger and Associates, believes that federal regulators may require all natural gas companies to begin reporting their transactions to FERC in a way similar to what electric companies already do on a quarterly basis. Schlesinger, a 30-year gas industry veteran and former vice president at the American Gas Association, said in an interview that he wouldn’t be surprised at all if FERC issued a notice of proposed rulemaking on the matter sometime between now and December.

“California’s energy crisis was voluntary. They didn’t have to do it. It didn’t have to be this way,” according to veteran energy analyst and consultant Ben Schlesinger, who told NGI this week that the state bet on the weather and the spot market, but failed to hedge its bets.

Thanks to energy industry deregulation, Sempra Energy Solutions,a Sempra Energy subsidiary, entered into a contract Thursday to actas energy consultant to W.W. Grainger Inc., a leading distributorof maintenance, repair, and operating supplies. “We recognize thatenergy is no longer a one-point, one-choice, one-price service,”said Craig Kozak, real estate project manager for W.W. GraingerInc., “For this reason, we have contracted with Sempra EnergySolutions to assist us through the landscape of today’s competitivemarketplace.”

Deregulation is creating more opportunities for distributedgeneration than there have been since the 1920s, according toconsultant Frost &amp Sullivan. Although regulatory, technical,economic and environmental hurdles remain, deregulation hasprompted utilities and other energy providers to start offeringdistributed generation as a value-added service to retaincustomers. Also, some industrial and commercial customers arebuying generators to gain independence from electric providers.