Increasing

Discovery Gas Transmission LLC has filed with FERC an application for an expansion that would include four new delivery points, increasing its delivery capability by 150 Dth/d to the southern Louisiana region.

The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), noting the importance of increasing natural gas supplies, passed a resolution at its summer meeting Wednesday encouraging cooperation of state and federal agencies in the siting of LNG regasification terminals.

With significant regulatory, financial and tax-related incentives designed to encourage development of renewable energy, an increasing number of wind power projects are being announced this year, including three new projects last week.

Rising temperatures, particularly in the Midwest and Midcontinent regions, gave an extra push Tuesday to the somewhat hesitant rally of the day before. The result was double-digit gains at almost every point Tuesday, with a majority of them surpassing 20 cents and a couple approaching 40 cents.

Northern Natural Gas has initiated a new rate case directed at increasing revenues by $55 million and changing its methods of operation to better fit in with the competitive market (RP03-398).

With an increased number of companies reporting, Lehman Brothers has revised its estimates of natural gas production in the United States for the first quarter, showing a 0.7% increase sequentially from 4Q 2002 and a 2.2% decline from the first quarter a year ago. The estimates are based on 58% of the 49 companies in Lehman’s survey reporting gas volumes. Thirteen more companies are slated to report by the end of the week.

The U.S. pipeline sector is trending toward a negative outlook because of liquidity, increasing regulations and changing party counter risks, a Fitch Ratings Oil & Gas group analyst said Tuesday. “First and foremost,” said analyst Hugh Welton, the energy merchant-owned domestic pipelines are weighed down by the “negative overhang of liquidity issues at the parent company level.”

The U.S. pipeline sector is trending toward a negative outlook because of liquidity, increasing regulations and changing party counter risks, a Fitch Ratings Oil & Gas group analyst said Tuesday. “First and foremost,” said analyst Hugh Welton, the energy merchant-owned domestic pipelines are weighed down by the “negative overhang of liquidity issues at the parent company level.”

New Jersey Resources Corp. (NJR) increased deliveries by 47% to 491 Bcf in its fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, increasing earnings per share by 7.6% to a record $2.12 or $56.8 million, compared with $52.3 million or $1.97 for the 12-month period ending at the same time in 2001.