Different

The midstream energy sector is a different and potentially darker place than it was in 2007 and early 2008, according to Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P). Although the credit market turmoil that began with the demise of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 has moderated, S&P said it believes the effects of the credit crisis will continue to define the risks and opportunities for the midstream sector next year.

As California lawmakers grapple with different legislative proposals to codify the state’s 33% renewable portfolio standard (RPS) goal for 2020, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told lawmakers he won’t sign any bills that don’t unshackle the retail electricity market by repealing restrictions imposed during the 2000-2001 wholesale energy market crisis. Schwarzenegger wants all residential and core customers to pay equally for the new RPS goal and for limited retail customer choice to be reopened.

With the “right kind of prices, the right kind of drilling,” natural gas shale could be the “long-dated fuel” for North America, Anadarko Petroleum CEO Jim Hackett said Tuesday. “But people shouldn’t get stars in their eyes without gas prices getting back pretty high,” he said at the company’s annual investor conference.

Global trading exchange competitors Atlanta-based IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) and Chicago-based CME Group saw very different Novembers as ICE recorded a 8.9% average daily volume (ADV) increase from November 2007, while CME posted a 29% drop when comparing the same two months.

Global trading exchange competitors Atlanta-based IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) and Chicago-based CME Group saw very different Novembers as ICE recorded a 8.9% average daily volume (ADV) increase from November 2007, while CME posted a 29% drop when comparing the same two months.

The recent unpredictability of energy futures markets was on display yet again Wednesday as crude and natural gas broke ranks to explore different price directions. August crude gained $2.60 to close at $143.57/bbl, while August natural gas dropped 11.6 cents to finish at $13.389.

They come from opposing sides of Arkansas’ political divide and have different ideas about where the proceeds should be spent, but Gov. Mike Beebe, a Democrat, and Sheffield Nelson, a former Republican candidate for governor, agree that the state’s severance tax on natural gas production needs to be raised.

They come from opposing sides of Arkansas’ political divide and have different ideas about where the proceeds should be spent, but Gov. Mike Beebe, a Democrat, and Sheffield Nelson, a former Republican candidate for governor, agree that the state’s severance tax on natural gas production needs to be raised.

A pair of liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal proposals on seemingly different trajectories — one ascending, the other trying to break its fall — eye separate hearings in their respective locales of Oregon and Southern California in the next two weeks.