Happening

December natural gas rose Thursday as market bears had to endure the indignity of a government inventory report sharply lower than what was expected. In its 10:30 a.m. EST report the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said inventories rose by just 19 Bcf for the week ended Nov. 11, about 7 Bcf less than what traders were looking for. At the close December had risen 6.6 cents to $3.410 and January had gained 6.3 cents to $3.546. December crude oil plunged $3.77 to $98.82/bbl.

Both the regulatory and commercial processes are on track for the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline linking western Canadian and U.S. Upper Midwest supply sources to refineries in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) region, TransCanada CEO Russ Girling told financial analysts Tuesday on a conference call. Under questioning, however, he admitted delays could sour current support the line enjoys from major shippers and refiners on both sides of the international border.

What’s actually happening “in the ground” challenges natural gas production forecasts.

Natural gas liquids (NGL) economics continued to improve in October, and the petrochemical industry’s conversion to lighter feedstocks, namely ethane, has been happening more quickly than expected, analysts at Wells Fargo Securities said last week.

Natural gas liquids (NGL) economics continued to improve in October, and the petrochemical industry’s conversion to lighter feedstocks, namely ethane, has been happening more quickly than expected, analysts at Wells Fargo Securities said Monday.

The apparent lack of news concerning Utah’s energy resources could lead some to conclude that there’s not much happening in the Beehive state, but it’s actually buzzing with natural gas activity. Gas volumes don’t approach the numbers from better-known gas basins in Wyoming and Colorado, but with more producers exploring the Natural Buttes field in the Uinta Basin, the state issued a record 2,062 drilling permits in 2006, a 27% increase over the previous record set in 2005.

The apparent lack of news concerning Utah’s energy resources could lead some to conclude that there’s not much happening in the Beehive state, but it’s actually buzzing with natural gas activity. Gas volumes don’t approach the numbers from better-known gas basins in Wyoming and Colorado, but with more producers exploring the Natural Buttes field in the Uinta Basin, the state issued a record 2,062 drilling permits in 2006, a 27% increase over the previous record set in 2005.

Now that winter is over, most experts would have trouble ruling out the possibility of a test of market lows. But that clearly wasn’t happening in the cash market on Monday. Despite mild weather, high line pack on many pipes and weaker crude oil fundamentals, most points were up a nickle to as much as 15 cents.

Having been eyewitnesses to a wave of debt rating downgrades, anemic wholesale power prices and the collapse of the once-mighty Enron over the past year, a majority of power industry executives recently surveyed don’t expect the sector to rebound until 2004 at the earliest.