Excess

Oil and natural gas prices are near record levels and global excess production capacity is near historical lows, which in turn has raised demand for petroleum professionals. But the new workforce is nowhere in sight, according to Raymond James & Associates Inc.

After cautioning customers a day earlier that an FTNN Hourly Limit OFO might become necessary because of concern about potential excess drafting of the pipeline due to frigid market-area weather (see Daily GPI, Dec. 14), Dominion followed through Friday by announcing that the OFO would become effective Sunday (Dec. 16) until further notice. Dominion also said a Conform Transportation Services to Scheduled Nominations OFO would take effect Sunday. See the bulletin board for details.

Dominion issued an OFO that became effective Wednesday until further notice. Dominion said it could not tolerate excess deliveries by customers because they jeopardize the pipeline’s ability to receive gas for injection into storage as required by service agreements and the FERC tariff. See the bulletin board for customer actions required by the OFO.

The abundance of natural gas reserves already discovered, and the prospects for a large yet-to-find potential, give gas a lifetime probably in excess of 130 years, according to the World Energy Council (WEC).

The abundance of natural gas reserves already discovered, and the prospects for a large yet-to-find potential, give gas a lifetime probably in excess of 130 years, the World Energy Council (WEC) said in a new report.

IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) Wednesday reported continued strong growth during March 2007 with increases in excess of 70% in its energy business segments compared to March 2006. Average daily volume (ADV) for ICE Futures, ICE’s UK-based regulated futures subsidiary, was 522,455 contracts, an increase of 76.8% over ADV in March 2006. The New York Board of Trade (NYBOT), ICE’s wholly owned U.S.-based regulated futures subsidiary, recorded an ADV of 198,736 contracts, an increase of 22.6% over March 2006. Electronic trading accounted for 59.3% of the total NYBOT soft commodities futures contracts, compared to 32.4% in February 2007. Average daily commissions in ICE’s over-the-counter (OTC) business segment for the month rose 73.8% to $591,785 compared to $340,504 in March 2006. For the first quarter of 2007, ICE Futures ADV increased 89.2% to a record 530,825 contracts compared to 280,606 in the first quarter of 2006. Average daily commissions in ICE’s OTC business increased 98.3% to a record $754,499, compared to $380,548 in the first quarter of 2006. Rival Nymex also announced significant volume increases for the month (see Daily GPI, April 4).

While a number of major midwestern and eastern gas consuming regions were being assaulted by a wintery mix Tuesday, natural gas futures traders pushed March futures 14.1 cents higher to $7.367. Trading was confined to a slim 19-cent range.

CenterPoint canceled Monday a systemwide alert under which it began charging Excess Contract Quantities penalties last Thursday.

Pacific Gas & Electric did not extend a systemwide high-inventory OFO beyond Saturday.