Horizon

The report warns that further difficulties could be on the horizon and many existing players may cease to have a viable independent future unless they adapt effectively to the changing market.

A sustained increase of at least 50% — and possibly more — is on the horizon for exports of natural gas from British Columbia to the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, Westcoast Energy told Canada’s National Energy Board (NEB) in an application with a 10%, C$270-million (US$170-million) expansion of its B.C. pipeline system’s capacity by 200 MMcf/d to 2.1 Bcf/d.

A sustained increase of at least 50% — and possibly more — is on the horizon for exports of natural gas from British Columbia to the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, Westcoast Energy told Canada’s National Energy Board in support of an application for an initial 10%, C$270-million (US$170-million) expansion of its B.C. pipeline system’s capacity by 200 MMcf/d to 2.1 Bcf/d.

With little or no air-conditioning related demand on the horizon and amid a quickly eroding year-on-year storage deficit, natural gas futures slumped to new 9-month lows Monday as traders pressed the market’s downside yet again. After opening lower, the June contract was hit with a steady procession of commercial and speculative selling that took the market down to a previous low at $4.10 just before the closing bell. Unable to rebound, June closed just off that level at $4.113, down 17.3 cents for the day.

The April gas futures contract managed a minor gain Friday of8.4 cents to end the regular trading session at $5.270/MMBtu andclose a relatively quiet week on a somewhat sleepy note. For thetime being, the April contract appears essentially dormant within atrading range between $5.06, which was the low trade for April setlast Tuesday, and Wednesday’s high of $5.385, which was the initialreaction high after the AGA storage data was released.

Brian Watt, CEO of Columbia Energy Services (CES), predicted ashakeout of retail energy providers over the next five years on thescale of what happened in the telecommunications industry, wheremarket participants dwindled from 400 to less than 10.

TransCanada PipeLines Ltd. has opened a second front in itsfight to stop, before it starts, a revenue hemorrhage seen on thehorizon as a result of new competition in natural gastransportation.

Another round of discussions — and potentially hearings oreven court cases — is on the horizon for the new branch of thenatural gas industry in Atlantic Canada, after regional natives wona legal ruling that they need to be consulted more.

Anadarko CEO Robert J. Allison Jr. is not alone in predicting asustained oil market recovery now that OPEC has decided it can livewith a little less supply on the market. But unlike most of theother optimistic soothsayers attending the Howard Weil EnergyConference in New Orleans last week, Allison sees a majorturnaround ahead and much greater volatility than has been presentin market cycles of the past.