Crowded

Nearly 200 people crowded the phone lines of an open meeting Monday night to hear public comments surrounding the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB) Natural Gas Subcommittee’s initial report on hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

Lawsuits challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) December endangerment finding have crowded a federal court in Washington, DC, with three states and a number of industry groups at the forefront.

A crowded field of former and existing western governors and former Clinton-era officials are topping the list of candidates being mentioned for secretary of the Interior Department in an Obama administration.

Throwing its hat into the crowded electronic energy trading arena, Briarcliff Manor, NY-based Optionable Inc., a provider of natural gas and other energy derivatives brokerage services, announced last week that it has commenced trading on its OPEX platform. OPEX is a real-time electronic trade matching and brokerage system that has been certified to connect with the Nymex ClearPort clearing platform.

Throwing its hat into the crowded electronic energy trading arena, Briarcliff Manor, NY-based Optionable Inc., a provider of natural gas and other energy derivatives brokerage services, announced Tuesday that it has commenced trading on its OPEX platform. OPEX is a real-time electronic trade matching and brokerage system that has been certified to connect with the Nymex ClearPort clearing platform.

As the field of would-be West Coast liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal proponents has gotten more crowded, one of the early developers, Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp., has had to push back the initial terminal start date by nearly four years. Its current joint plans with subsidiaries of ConocoPhillips to open a terminal in Long Beach, CA harbor target 2011 for the first commercial operations, Mitsubishi’s COO for the project said Wednesday.

As natural gas production falls and prices remain high, U.S. chemical producers may be “crowded out” by price-insensitive customers that bid up the prices to a level that manufacturers cannot afford to pay, according to a comprehensive analysis unveiled Friday by two Lehman Brothers analysts.

As natural gas production falls and prices remain high, U.S. chemical producers will be “crowded out” by price-insensitive customers that bid up the prices to a level that manufacturers cannot afford to pay, according to a comprehensive analysis unveiled Thursday by two Lehman Brothers analysts.

Moving in on an already crowded Mid-Atlantic field, Williams’ Transco Pipeline announced it is soliciting interest for a capacity expansion in its Zone 5, to run from Station 165 in Pittsylvania County, VA to Hertford County, NC.