Game

While Denali and TransCanada are the most notable Alaska gasline projects, there’s no clear front-runner at this stage of the game, the federal coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects said Monday.

With the month only half over, the western chess game revolving around proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal projects already has seen two proposals make advances in Oregon while one of the longest-standing projects in Long Beach, CA, dropped out of contention to build the first LNG facility on the U.S. West Coast.

Forest Oil Corp. is stepping up its game, announcing it has discovered natural gas in the Utica Shale in Quebec where it has accumulated 269,000 net acres. In addition, the Denver-based independent will pay $285 million to nearly double its position in the East Texas/North Louisiana area.

Forest Oil Corp. is stepping up its game, announcing it has discovered natural gas in the Utica Shale in Quebec where it has accumulated 269,000 net acres. In addition, the Denver-based independent will pay $285 million to nearly double its position in the East Texas/North Louisiana area.

The energy industry’s race to keep up with the global demand for natural gas is “as tight a race as the U.S. presidential campaign,” but it’s not a “zero-sum game with only one winner. This is a race all of us must win,” a Royal Dutch Shell plc executive said last week.

Attempting to ascertain how much natural gas is being traded by every single energy merchant in North America is a gambler’s game at best. Trends, however, are another story, and in a review of 1Q2007 gas marketing data, the Barnett Shale and the Rocky Mountains appear to be making an impact, albeit small, on the markets.

Attempting to ascertain how much natural gas is being traded by every single energy merchant in North America is a gambler’s game at best. Trends, however, are another story, and in a review of 1Q2007 gas marketing data, the Barnett Shale appears to be making an impact, albeit small, on the markets.

When Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski was defeated in his bid for reelection last year, many knew it was game over for the old-line producers that had been negotiating behind the scenes on building a natural gas pipeline across the state. With the arrival of new politicians, however, new industry players also are arriving on the scene, and two last week offered their support for Gov. Sarah Palin’s revamped pipe proposal.

When Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski was defeated in his bid for reelection last year, many knew it was game over for the old-line producers that had been negotiating behind the scenes on building a natural gas pipeline across the state. With the arrival of new politicians, however, new industry players also are arriving on the scene, and two this week offered their support for Gov. Sarah Palin’s revamped pipe proposal.