Impacts

Traders are still discussing the potential impacts of the large position held by the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG), especially as the exchange-traded fund (ETF) rolled its front-month positions on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) and the IntercontinentalExchange (ICE).

Traders are still discussing the potential impacts of the large position held by the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG), especially as the exchange-traded fund (ETF) currently rolls its front-month positions on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) and the IntercontinentalExchange (ICE).

Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal wants the U.S. Forest Service to redo portions of a draft supplemental environmental impact study (EIS) on possible oil and gas drilling impacts in the Wyoming Range after claiming that a producer was allowed to “guide and fund” the study and privately participate in agency meetings.

Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal wants the U.S. Forest Service to redo portions of a draft supplemental environmental impact study (EIS) on possible oil and gas drilling impacts in the Wyoming Range after claiming that a producer was allowed to “guide and fund” the study and privately participate in agency meetings.

The recent Canadian government-commissioned study on the impacts of liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker traffic in the choppy waters of Passamaquoddy Bay does not provide any fodder for the opponents of the Downeast LNG project proposed for Maine, said the company’s president.

The expectation for continued strong oil and natural gas prices, as expressed in each commodity’s Nymex strip, has had both positive and negative impacts on the exploration and production sector. It has allowed the industry to substantially pay-down debt, but also has driven up costs for people, equipment and, in particular, assets.

The expectation for continued strong oil and natural gas prices, as expressed in each commodity’s Nymex strip, has had both positive and negative impacts on the exploration and production sector. It has allowed the industry to substantially pay-down of debt, but also has driven up costs for people, equipment and, in particular, assets.

Residual impacts from last year’s Gulf of Mexico hurricanes, higher taxes and a prolonged Texas refinery shutdown sent BP plc’s 1Q2006 net profit down 15% from a year ago, despite higher commodity prices. The London-based major posted a net profit of $5.63 billion, compared with $6.602 billion in 1Q2005.

El Paso has a full plate of various maintenance projects set for February; see the bulletin board for details. The ones with the biggest service impacts are set for the South Mainline, which will see Low Pressure System capacity reductions as high as 750 MMcf/d Feb. 7-8 and 610 MMcf/d Feb. 3-6 and again on Feb. 9. Also, the pipeline said, the Washington Ranch Storage facility must be withdrawing at a rate of approximately 180 MMcf/d to accommodate equipment testing on Feb. 9. El Paso said it will lose a large degree of operational flexibility during the Washington Ranch test, “making it critical that all parties scheduling gas on our pipeline manage their volumes carefully to balance receipts and deliveries daily.”