Decade

With an added 100,000 MW of wind power in the next decade could supplant the need for higher-priced natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports, wind advocates contend.

French-based Total is set to expand its liquefied natural gas (LNG) operations in North America by the end of the decade after signing a 20-year supply agreement with Nigeria LNG Ltd. The sale and purchase agreement, to begin in 2007, would supply subsidiary Total Gas & Power Ltd. with 1.3 Bcf/year of LNG for market expansion in the Western Hemisphere.

FERC Commissioner William Massey, who was first named to the agency nearly a decade ago, signaled this week that he’s interested in pursuing another term at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission when his term expires in June.

FERC Commissioner William Massey, who was first named to the agency nearly a decade ago, signaled last week that he’s interested in pursuing another term at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission when his current stint ends in June.

Given the uncanny similarity to events of a decade ago, the outlook for the natural gas and power industry bears a strong resemblance to the markets in the early 1990s, according to a new report issued by Credit Suisse First Boston Equity Research Tuesday. The key difference is the current valuation for the S&P 500 Index is 10% higher than it was in 1992, while the valuation for the natural gas and power sector is 30% lower, it said.

This could be the first year since the gas marketing business began more than a decade and a half ago that annual marketing volumes decline, said Benjamin Schlesinger, president of Maryland-based consulting firm Schlesinger and Associates, which has been closely tracking the industry since the early 1980s. Schleslinger said in addition to the likely volume declines this year, the number of gas merchants in the business also will fall sharply.

Mexico’s energy industry will face big challenges in the next 10 years, as demand for natural gas rises an estimated 120% — with 55% of that demand tied to a huge increase in gas-fired generation. Now positioning itself to become one of the “frontiers” for gas development, a top Mexican energy official said Tuesday that the country has begun courting more private investment to improve its aging pipeline and transmission infrastructure, add at least two liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants and begin intensive exploration and development efforts of its prolific and untapped reserves.

After more than a decade of unsuccessful grappling with technical issues, a beginning has been made on tapping Canadian coal seams for natural gas on a commercial scale.

After more than a decade of unsuccessful grappling with technical issues, Canadian producers have started to tap coal seams for natural gas on a commercial scale. PanCanadian Energy Corp. and MGV Energy Inc. have started producing coalbed methane CBM (CBM) with enough success to contemplate a 250-well program if the early trials keep on working out.