Experts

Two prominent energy industry consultants agreed Tuesday at GasMart/Power in Reno that fallout from Enron’s bankruptcy probably will include significant reregulation of the energy markets and continued unprecedented financial scrutiny of the energy industry.

Mark-to-market accounting for long-term transactions presents company management “with a temptation to be overly aggressive that is too great for them to ignore,” a leading short seller, credited with spotting Enron’s problems early on, told a congressional committee last Wednesday.

Mark-to-market accounting for long-term transactions presents company management “with a temptation to be overly aggressive that is too great for them to ignore,” a leading short seller, credited with spotting Enron’s problems early on, told a congressional committee Wednesday.

After all of the ups and downs in the U.S.’s natural gas markets over the past year, industry experts at the 13th Annual LDC Forum in Chicago last week said they still foresee a 30 Tcf market in the future, but they differ on the expected timeframe. The speakers agreed that the nation’s current infrastructure would need to be beefed up to shoulder the load.

A blue-ribbon team of veteran Canadian experts on natural gas supplies has set out to correct a starry-eyed vision of frontier resources that it says has periodically distorted North American energy policies and needs to be cleared up.

After all of the ups and downs in the U.S.’s natural gas markets over the past year, industry experts at the 13th Annual LDC Forum in Chicago Monday said they still foresee a 30 Tcf market in the future, but they differ on the expected timeframe. The speakers agreed that the nation’s current infrastructure would need to be beefed up to shoulder the load.

Many market experts were stunned last week by the American Gas Association’s (AGA) report of a 3 Bcf net injection into the nation’s storage facilities during the week ending Aug. 10. An injection that small in August is unprecedented and had an immediate impact on prices, pushing near-month futures up 37 cents on Wednesday with a similar increase in cash Thursday morning. However, many marketers said they were attempting to ignore the data as an anomaly or an outright mistake by AGA or the storage companies it surveys.

Many market experts remained in disbelief Thursday over the American Gas Association’s (AGA) report of a 3 Bcf net injection into the nation’s storage facilities last week. An injection that small in August is unprecedented and had a stunning impact on prices, pushing near-month futures up 37 cents on Wednesday with a similar increase in cash Thursday morning. However, many marketers said they were attempting to ignore the data as an anomaly or an outright mistake by AGA or the storage companies it surveys.

Even though experts predicted the energy market would make a U-turn, “it is always painful when reality slaps you in the face,” according to Raymond James Energy’s “Stat of the Week.” As early as April, energy analyst Marshall Adkins predicted mid-$5/Mcf prices were not going to be sustainable with expected large gas injections. Through July, he predicts natural gas prices will continue to fall.