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U.S. natural gas output is falling, but supply is no longer constrained, and this summer the U.S. gas market may see a big jump in liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports, which has created uncertainty about supply and demand both in the short- and long-term, energy analysts said last week.

Fewer named storms will be created during the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season and there will probably be less activity in the Gulf of Mexico than last year, according to AccuWeather.com Chief Long Range Forecaster Joe Bastardi.

Fewer named storms will be created during the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season and there will probably be less activity in the Gulf of Mexico than last year, according to AccuWeather.com Chief Long Range Forecaster Joe Bastardi.

A jump in oil and natural gas drilling, which required more rigs, which in turn created a tight supply market, has caused upstream costs to more than double in the past eight years, according to a report by IHS and Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA). In just the last six months, upstream costs rose 5%, but as the financial crisis bears down on business, prices have begun to moderate.

A subsidiary of Newfield Exploration Co. has contracted with Ecosphere Technologies Inc. to recycle wastewater created from drilling wells using hydraulic fracturing at the producer’s Woodford Shale operations near Coalgate, OK. Financial details between Ecosphere and Newfield Exploration Mid-Continent were not disclosed.

BP plc is making good on its promises to improve performance, and the financial market turmoil actually has created new opportunities, the CEO said last week. The London-based producer was buoyed after reporting a better-than-expected 83% jump in quarterly net profit.

San Francisco-based Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) was one of 10 utilities selected this year as part of the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index, created 10 years ago to track financial performance of leading sustainability-driven companies. PG&E contends that the inclusion makes it a leader in “managing economic, environmental and social issues.” It also operates in a state where political leaders from the governor on down and energy regulators subscribe to the assumption that alternative energy approaches can result in both environmental mitigation and economic opportunity. PG&E joined other utilities including Entergy, Duke, Progress Energy, Xcel Energy Inc. and TransAlta on the North American index. Entergy was the only utility included on the 2008 Dow Jones Sustainability Global Index. PG&E emphasized that earning a spot in the Dow Jones index reflects what it called a “long-standing commitment” to corporate social responsibility, including environmental sensitivity, employee health/safety, corporate governance, corporate philanthropy and community involvement. PG&E CEO Peter Darbee said “never before has there been a clearer line of sight between corporate social responsibility and creating lasting value for stakeholders. Leading companies today have to focus as much or more on how they arrive at their bottom line as they do on the bottom line itself.

Thursday’s 86.1-cent dive by August futures and the bearish mood created by a significantly larger-than-expected storage injection report had their anticipated impact on the cash market Friday. Although overall cooling load remained fairly strong going into the weekend, prices plunged across the board, with a few Northeast declines approaching (and in one case exceeding) $2. The dropoff of industrial load during a weekend played a minor role in the massive softness.

A report by a task force created by Connecticut’s governor found that federal regulators’ environmental analysis of Broadwater Energy LLC’s controversial liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal and associated pipeline is seriously flawed, which it insists is enough to “torpedo” the facilities proposed for Long Island Sound.