Improvement

The Chesapeake Bay, long plagued by pollution from development across its 64,000-square-mile watershed, is showing “some encouraging signs of improvement,” but is still “dangerously out of balance” and needs to be protected from a variety of threats, including natural gas drilling operations in the Marcellus Shale, according to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s (CBF) “2010 State of the Bay” report.

Drilling in natural gas liquids-weighted plays and oil shales are expected to be the focus of domestic exploration and production (E&P) companies in 2011, energy analysts with FBR Capital Markets said Monday.

Power companies should have no problem refinancing maturing debt in the near-term despite the current credit crunch, given the improvement in the sector over the past couple of years, according to a new report issued by Standard & Poor’s (S&P).

Even with solid earnings improvement, Las Vegas, NV-based Southwest Gas Corp’s. lingering issue with regulators in the three states in which it operates is how to make its natural gas distribution earnings more stable and less influenced by swings in the weather in Nevada, Arizona and the eastern desert/mountain fringes of California. Net income for the first quarter ended March 31 was $49.8 million, or $l.19/share, compared to $44.2 million, or $1.12/share, for the same period in 2006.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2006 Wednesday night by unanimous voice vote. The act is seen as essential for the energy industry because it provides funding and direction for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s pipeline safety oversight programs.

U.S. natural gas production in 3Q2006 increased 5.5% year over year — an improvement largely reflective of the recovery from last year’s hurricanes, according to energy analyst John Gerdes. However, Gerdes’ survey also showed 2.2% production growth compared to 2Q2006, suggesting that overall, domestic gas production may rise about 2% this year, or 1 Bcf/d. Those numbers closely match actual gas supply data compiled by Denver-based consulting firm Bentek Energy.

U.S. natural gas production in 3Q2006 increased 5.5% year over year — an improvement largely reflective of hurricane-related recovery, according to energy analyst John Gerdes. However, Gerdes’ survey also noted 2.2% production growth compared to 2Q2006, suggesting that overall, domestic gas production may rise about 2% this year, or 1 Bcf/d.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Wednesday approved the proposed Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2006, reauthorizing the current pipeline safety law which was set to expire this year. The bill was introduced by committee Chairman Don Young, R-AK and Rep. Thomas Petri, R-WI. The American Gas Association said it was pleased the bill included a focus on prevention of excavation damage to pipelines, the single largest cause of incidents on the natural gas distribution system. The bill encourages stronger state damage prevention programs through financial incentives and increases penalties for failing to use the one-call system or failure to mark pipelines. The Senate still must act on the bill.

Showing improvement, albeit modest, Sierra Pacific Resources Friday reported earnings for the first quarter of $1.2 million, or a penny/share, compared to a $9.5 million loss, or an 8 cents/share, for the same period last year. There was continued strong growth at both of the company’s Nevada utilities, but the largest utility, Nevada Power Co., still recorded a loss in the first quarter.