Dries

With a vow to make the most of natural gas wealth before depletion dries up the gravy train, the Alberta government is emerging as an international private equity investor with a taste for energy niches.

Blackouts are expected to become more frequent worldwide as power plants age and investment dries up, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) survey of 119 investors and executives at utilities in 36 countries.

The September gas futures contract found its footing on Tuesday after Monday’s 18-cent stumble, but struggled to gain much ground in a relatively quiet trading session. The near-month contract ended the day up 3.8 cents to $2.716 with a high of $2.745 and a low of $2.690. October rose 3.5 cents, and the winter strip inched up to $3.436.

In a session that had a little for both bull and bear, natural gas futures spiraled higher early Thursday only to crash lower late in the day as traders were finally successful breaking beneath support. In doing so the prompt contract slipped 5.9 cents lower to close at $4.054.

Budget cutbacks and consolidation of the natural gas industryhave prompted the Gas Research Institute (GRI) and the Institute ofGas Technology (IGT) to consider the possibility of merging the twoR&D groups.

Budget cutbacks and consolidation within the natural gasindustry have prompted the Gas Research Institute (GRI) and theInstitute of Gas Technology (IGT) to consider the possibility ofmerging the two research and development groups.