Economically

Natural gas development in the Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale has been economically beneficial, but maybe not as much as some studies have suggested, according to research by Pennsylvania State University.

Consol Energy Corp. is returning to the Utica Shale. The Pittsburgh coal and gas producer recently announced plans to run six rigs starting this fall, five on its acreage in the Marcellus Shale and one full time in the Utica of eastern Ohio.

As energy storage generally becomes more important economically, a natural gas storage field proposed for an existing suburban residential area in Sacramento, CA, has its backers lamenting the political dust being stirred up (see Daily GPI, March 16). Nevertheless, the head of Sacramento Natural Gas Storage told NGI Wednesday he thinks the project ultimately will prevail.

Las Vegas, NV-based local distribution company (LDC) Southwest Gas Corp. is sitting pretty this winter and for the foreseeable future in terms of adequate natural gas supplies. The gas-only utility’s three-state service area divides into three regions, each with a different set of supply basins, and the shale gas boom affects two of those operating areas.

The proposed American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, better known as the Waxman-Markey climate bill, is economically sound and may have benefits worth twice as much as the cost to implement it, an analysis has found.

It may be nearly impossible for a second West Coast liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal to pencil out economically compared to expansion of the 1 Bcf/d Costa Azul facility Sempra Energy plans to open along the Pacific Coast of North Baja California in the first quarter of next year, Sempra’s CFO Mark Snell told the Lehman Brothers CEO Energy/Power Conference last Thursday in New York City.

It may be nearly impossible for a second West Coast liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal to pencil out economically compared to expansion of the 1 Bcf Costa Azul facility Sempra Energy plans to open along the Pacific Coast of North Baja California in the first quarter of next year, Sempra’s CFO Mark Snell told the Lehman Brothers CEO Energy/Power Conference Thursday in New York City.

Although the messages may be economically mixed, Sempra Energy’s Southern California Ga Co. utility unit Wednesday predicted lower natural gas bills this winter, but it nevertheless urged its business customers to continue to seek various energy savings through a number of recommended programs. Mirroring a message by its utility counterpart in the northern half of the state, SoCalGas said businesses throughout California should see lower gas bills the upcoming winter.

State practices of assessing higher property tax rates on natural gas pipelines than on other commercial/industrial property are “economically destructive” to both pipelines and natural gas customers, an official with a Washington, DC-based think tank told a House panel Thursday.