Fate

The fate of one of two major nuclear power plants in California remained uncertain at year-end as federal regulators are prodding the operator of the idle 2,200 MW San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (Songs) for more analysis of the steam generator tubing problems that have kept Songs’ two units shut down for nearly a year.

Doubts have deepened about the fate of Chinese state-controlled CNOOC Ltd.’s attempt to win a toehold in the North American oil and gas industry with a C$15.1 billion (U.S. dollar at par) takeover bid for Nexen Inc. of Calgary.

Doubts deepened over the weekend about the fate of Chinese state-controlled CNOOC Ltd.’s attempt to win a toehold in the North American oil and gas industry with a C$15.1 billion (U.S. dollar at par) takeover bid for Nexen Inc. of Calgary.

While the excitement mounts regarding the fate of a number of proposed U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects, the CFOs of three companies with projects on the line said last week a good market exists among free trade agreement (FTA) nations, some in North America’s backyard.

While the excitement mounts regarding the fate of a number of proposed U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects, the CFOs of three companies with projects on the line said Wednesday that a good market exists among free trade agreement (FTA) nations, some right in North America’s backyard.

As California faces its first real heatwave of the summer, the fate of the 2,200 MW San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (Songs) remains a mystery, and the only sure bet is that more natural gas-fired electric generation within and outside the state will have to be called upon to make up for the absence of the huge plant along the Pacific Coast in North San Diego County.

Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) services that have been under pressure in North America’s natural gas basins now are seeing some of the same impacts in the liquids-rich basins, Schlumberger Ltd.’s CEO said Friday.

The five-member California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday split over the fate of an independent power provider’s natural gas-fired generation plant, but in the end approved it and a long-delayed gas-fired peaking plant in Ventura County northwest of Los Angeles.

The fate of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s bill that proposes drilling reforms in federal waters was unknown Thursday after a group of senators walked out of a mark-up session following a flare-up over the hot button issue of increasing the coastal states’ share of revenues from energy production.