Fifth

Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP has closed its fifth private equity energy fund with total commitments of $820 million. The Houston-based fund has invested in more than 50 energy companies since 1998. Like prior funds, the new fund will invest in “early to mid-stage” North American oil and gas companies with typical investments ranging from $20 million to $150 million, officials said. Previous investments by Kayne Anderson have included Millennium Midstream Partners LP (see Daily GPI, Sept. 17, 2008) and Crestwood Midstream Partners LLC (see Daily GPI, June 26, 2008).

July natural gas futures values declined for the fifth consecutive session on Wednesday, but some traders are expecting a late round of short-covering to take place ahead of the contract’s expiration on Friday. The prompt month dropped 11.8 cents Wednesday to finish at $3.761, while August crude shaved off 57 cents to close at $68.67/bbl.

Natural gas and oil exploration and development in Texas continued to decline through March for the fifth consecutive month, sustaining a trend that may lead to severe job losses in the state and ultimately skyrocketing energy prices, energy economist Karr Ingham said Monday.

A “fifth-generation son of the West” and nominee for the top post at the U.S. Department of Interior told a Senate committee last Thursday his first priority will be to clean up the scandal-plagued agency. President-elect Obama’s pick for Interior secretary, Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar (D), also emphasized the need for renewable energy development and conservation.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. sighed a breath of relief early last week after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans upheld a Lake Charles, LA, federal court’s 2007 decision that the company did not have to pay the U.S. government millions of dollars in royalties on eight oil and natural gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM).

A “fifth-generation son of the West” and nominee for the top post at the U.S. Department of Interior told a Senate committee Thursday his first priority will be to clean up the scandal-plagued agency. President-elect Obama’s pick for Interior secretary, Ken Salazar, also emphasized the need for renewable energy development and conservation.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. sighed a breath of relief Monday after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans upheld a Lake Charles, LA, federal court’s 2007 decision that the company did not have to pay the U.S. Government millions of dollars in royalties on eight oil and natural gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM).

The Pacific Northwest needs a new infusion of natural gas supplies longer term, including liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports, according to a variety of industry speakers at the Fifth Annual Northwest Energy Conference held last Wednesday in Portland, OR, and sponsored by the Northwest Gas Association (NWGA).

The Pacific Northwest needs a new infusion of natural gas supplies longer term, including liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports, according to a variety of industry speakers at the Fifth Annual Northwest Energy Conference held last Wednesday in Portland and sponsored by the Northwest Gas Association (NWGA).