Elsewhere

With more than enough drilling opportunities that await development in the Marcellus Shale and elsewhere, Chesapeake Energy Corp. on Wednesday confirmed that it has “no intention” to drill natural gas wells in upstate New York’s watershed, which supplies water to nine million people, including New York City.

In California and elsewhere, the push toward carbon dioxide emission reductions means more battles between natural gas and coal over which should be the electric generation fuel to smooth increased reliance on more intermittent sources of renewable power such as wind and solar.

For California and elsewhere, the push toward carbon dioxide emission reductions means more battles between natural gas and coal over which should be the electric generation fuel to smooth increased reliance on more intermittent sources of renewable power: wind and solar.

Gains, concentrated in the Midcontinent, Northeast and much of the West, modestly outnumbered losses elsewhere Monday as heat across the southern third of the U.S. continued to wrestle with relatively moderate conditions to the north for primary market influence. The previous Friday’s 3.5-cent loss by August futures and the return of industrial load after the weekend were other opposing price factors.

Although record-setting heat levels were due to end after Tuesday in the Northeast and weather-based load was not expected to be remarkable elsewhere except possibly in Western Canada and the desert Southwest, prices were up at a solid majority of points Tuesday. The overall cash market firmness was also able to shrug off a 4.4-cent decline by May futures a day earlier.

Spikes at Northeast citygates Tuesday didn’t get much company elsewhere in the firming category. Most points declined as moderating weather trends in the western half of the South, Midcontinent and Midwest limited overall heating load. The previous Friday’s 4.2-cent drop by February futures was another mildly negative factor for the cash market.

While many in Alaska and elsewhere have harbored doubts that the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA) would yield a viable proposal for a pipeline to commercialize the state’s vast gas reserves, last week two of the three major North Slope producers joined hands and stepped up to the task. Their gasline gambit has stirred new optimism that a pipeline might actually get built.

Colder-than-normal temperatures will dominate much of the northern United States and warmer-than-normal temperatures will be seen elsewhere through April, WSI Corp. forecasters said last Tuesday.

Colder-than-normal temperatures will dominate much of the northern United States and warmer-than-normal temperatures will be seen elsewhere through April, WSI Corp. forecasters said Tuesday.