Keen

In the second biggest natural gas market in the United States, California energy officials have kept a keen eye fixed on shale gas, and their revised energy plans and forecasts next year and beyond will reflect a greater impact from North America’s energy game-changer, the author of the California Energy Commission’s (CEC) latest report on shale gas told NGI during an interview this week.

Burlington Resources Inc. and Nexen Inc. plan to increase their spending in North America next year, with Burlington’s spending earmarked for natural gas development in the Rocky Mountains while Nexen’s will be spent in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.

While she hasn’t come to any firm conclusions as to possible changes that may need to be made in the collection and dissemination of natural gas prices in the wake of revelations that certain traders apparently reported false data to various trade publications, FERC Commissioner Nora Brownell said on Wednesday that her own personal opinion is that the government shouldn’t shoulder this responsibility.

While she hasn’t come to any firm conclusions as to possible changes that may need to be made in the collection and dissemination of natural gas prices in the wake of revelations that certain traders apparently reported false data to various trade publications, FERC Commissioner Nora Brownell said on Wednesday that her own personal opinion is that the government shouldn’t shoulder this responsibility.