Grabbed

After failing to key off Tuesday’s kick-off of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season, natural gas bulls grabbed hold of Wednesday to test out higher prices. The July contract put in a high of $4.440 before closing out the regular session at $4.424, up 17.6 cents from Tuesday’s finish.

An adventure north of $4 appeared to be a bridge too far — at least on Friday — as the October contract grabbed the $4 handle two separate times during the day before closing at $3.985, up three pennies from Thursday’s close and up 20.7 cents from the previous week’s finish.

While the western phase of the Rockies Express Pipeline grabbed most of the attention last Thursday, FERC also approved a number of other key pipeline and liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects, as well as two asset purchases.

While the western phase of the Rockies Express Pipeline grabbed most of the attention Thursday, FERC also approved a number of other key pipeline and liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects, as well as two asset purchases.

The new large natural gas pipelines now under construction have grabbed a lot of the headlines in recent months, but in the next few years, there likely will be a “wave of smaller, significant expansions” of existing and greenfield pipes across the country, the head of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) said last week.

The new large natural gas pipelines now under construction have grabbed a lot of the headlines in recent months, but in the next few years, there likely will be a “wave of smaller, significant expansions” of existing and greenfield pipes across the country, the head of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) said Monday.

The defense team grabbed the spotlight last week in the trial of Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling by attempting to tear down former CFO Andrew Fastow’s credibility. Lawyers for Skilling and Lay went right to the heart of their defensive strategy, telling the jury that Fastow was a devious accountant and skilled liar who duped his bosses, stole millions and pushed the company toward financial ruin.

The year 2005 will be remembered for its hurricanes and record-setting natural gas prices, events that continuously grabbed the top headlines in the Natural Gas Intelligence newsletters, making them the longest-running top stories for the industry. Besides the actual hurricanes and consequent price spikes, it appeared that nearly everyone in a position to be quoted — congressmen, regulators, analysts, advocates, and industry executives — had comments, warnings, or prognostications about the events that roiled the industry. Other events — while important — only sporadically managed to shove hurricanes and prices out of the spotlight.

Evergreen Resources grabbed another 17,800 acres of coalbed methane properties, representing about 40 Bcf of proven reserves in the southern Colorado portion of the Raton Basin for $19.2 million from Shenandoah Operating Co. The purchase brings Evergreen’s total gross acreage position in the Raton to 265,000 acres.