Freeze

TransCanada Corp. is seeking to freeze tolls on its natural gas Mainline at current levels until its grand design for reducing the troubled system’s charges — the proposed “business and services restructuring” — can be put into practice.

The federal government should leave shale regulation to the states, but companies should be ready for changes to the tax code that will likely impact their industry, a bipartisan panel of lawmakers told a Philadelphia audience last Wednesday.

In the article “Southwest Gas Shutoff Aftermath Lingers” (see Daily GPI, March 30), NGI incorrectly stated that during a severe freeze in February “some 40,000 retail gas customers experienced shut-offs in New Mexico, with thousands more in certain areas of southern Arizona.” The 40,000 number is incorrect. The sentence should read “Thousands more were affected in other areas of New Mexico and certain areas of southern Arizona.” NGI regrets the error.

The Maryland House of Delegates has approved a bill that would freeze the permitting of Marcellus Shale drilling until 2013 while state agencies review the results of various studies into Marcellus development and hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking), including a major study being performed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The Maryland House of Delegates has approved a bill that would freeze the permitting of Marcellus Shale drilling until 2013 while state agencies review the results of various studies into Marcellus development and hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking), including a major study being performed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (see Shale Daily, Feb. 24).

The Maryland House of Delegates could vote as early as Tuesday on a bill that would freeze the permitting of Marcellus Shale drilling — at least temporarily — while state agencies review the results of various studies into Marcellus development and hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking), including a major study being performed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (see Shale Daily, Feb. 24).

Despite the current freeze gripping much of the eastern half of the United States, recent near-term forecasts of moderating temperatures helped ease natural gas futures values lower on Tuesday as the January contract reached a low of $4.250 before closing the regular session at $4.255, down 16.5 cents from Monday’s regular session close.

Michiganians won’t freeze in the dark this winter, and they’ll be sitting on fatter wallets thanks to lower gas prices, according to the latest annual “Michigan Energy Appraisal: Winter 2010-2011,” released by the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC).

Despite the fact that much of the midwestern and eastern parts of the country are plunging into the season’s second cold freeze, natural gas futures traders appeared unmoved Friday as the March contract bounced back and forth before closing the regular session at $5.515, up 9.9 cents from Thursday’s finish and 38.4 cents from the previous week’s close.