Healthy

Among a growing minority of healthy major energy sector players, San Diego-based Sempra Energy received a positive response from Standard & Poor’s Ratings Service last Wednesday that it has established an equity fund unit to seek partners in buying presumably bargain-priced energy assets.

Among a growing minority of healthy major energy sector players, San Diego-based Sempra Energy received a positive response from Standard & Poor’s Rating Service Wednesday to its announcement earlier in the week that it has established an equity fund unit to seek partners in buying presumably bargain-priced energy assets.

North American natural gas exploration and production (E&P) hasn’t lost its luster for many U.S.- and Canadian-based independents, but for the moment anyway, the exploitation prospects are running parallel or second to producing a strong balance sheet.

Strong natural gas drilling, driven by healthy oil and gas prices and rising cash flow in the first nine months of 2001, pushed up Canada’s industry average for finding and development (F&D) costs in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin by 46% last year, according to a new Ziff Energy Group study. However, through the first eight months of 2002, gas well completions are off 20% from a year ago.

Strong natural gas drilling, driven by healthy oil and gas prices and rising cash flow in the first nine months of 2001, pushed up Canada’s industry average for finding and development (F&D) costs in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin by 46% last year, according to a new Ziff Energy Group study. However, through the first eight months of 2002, gas well completions are off 20% from a year ago.

Faced with cheaper spot prices for power and a state that has healthy reserve margins, other generators in Texas may follow the lead of American Electric Power (AEP) and move to mothball some of their older, gas-fired power plants, Rebecca Klein, chairman of the Texas Public Utility Commission (PUC), said last Thursday.

Even as the natural gas storage situation in the United States remains quite healthy, UBS Warburg analyst Ron Barone said he expects gas prices to go up and demand to go unsupplied in the not so distant future, due to dwindling reserves and a decline in drill rig utilization.

The Bush administration is considering plans that would ease environmental restrictions on upgraded existing coal-fired power plants and potentially force the delay or cancellation of a significant amount of new gas-fired power generation. Some industry observers estimate the potential impact at about 40,000 MW of generation capacity or roughly about 8 Bcf/d of gas demand.

Sorry to sound like a broken record, but Thursday’s marketcontinued the pattern set Tuesday and Wednesday: ever-higher pricepeaks in the frigid Northeast (the top quote was $19 at TranscoZone 6-NYC) and considerably smaller but still strong increaseselsewhere.