Florida

The sudden reversal Tuesday by the Department of Interior to drop Florida from a draft proposal to expand U.S. offshore drilling sparked criticism from other coastal state leaders also opposed.

The Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) on Tuesday approved integrating renewable natural gas (RNG), or biomethane, with traditional gas utility pipeline supplies.

The complex dispute over a trio of natural gas pipelines in the Southeast, including Sabal Trail, took another turn after environmental groups and landowners opposed to the pipelines urged a federal appeals court to reject a FERC request that the court reverse a decision to vacate project permits.

FERC issued a draft supplemental environmental impact statement (EIS) Wednesday for the Sabal Trail Pipeline and two related pipeline expansions, addressing an Aug. 22 appeals court opinion that vacated and remanded its certificate for the projects.

Hurricane Irma made landfall in Florida early Sunday morning as a Category 4 storm, strafing the state and knocking out power to millions. Authorities said it could takes weeks before power is restored to every customer.

With the potentially catastrophic Category 5 Hurricane Irma maintaining its collision course with the Florida coast, Southeast utilities continued to brace for impact Thursday as the market braces for natural gas demand destruction.

October natural gas is set to open 2 cents higher Thursday morning at $3.02 as traders assess what could be a bearish double whammy of a violent load-killing hurricane headed for Florida and a government storage report expected to give insight into last week’s impact on supply and demand from Hurricane Harvey. Overnight oil markets were mixed.

Hurricane Irma, a catastrophic Category 5 storm that was barreling through the Caribbean on Wednesday, is likely to have some impact on natural gas markets if it strikes the United States, which forecasters were anticipating.

The U.S. Coast Guard on Monday approved plans by JAX LNG LLC to operate a second waterfront liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Florida to conduct ship-to-ship bunkering operations beginning next year.