Lengthy

Ending a three-day Republican filibuster, Senators Thursday kicked off what will likely be a lengthy debate of legislation (S. 3217) to overhaul the financial regulatory system (see Daily GPI, April 29; April 28; April 27).

John W. Nichols, 93, co-founder and chairman emeritus of Devon Energy Corp., has died following a lengthy illness. Nichols began his career as an auditor for Oklahoma City-based oil and gas producers. As a certified public accountant, Nichols registered the world’s first public oil and gas drilling fund with the Securities and Exchange Commission. His investment fund raised more than $1.4 million within a few months, and using the seed money, Nichols and F.G. “Blackie” Blackwood in 1941 established an oil company to explore the northeast corner of New Mexico’s San Juan Basin. Nichols founded Devon in 1971 and asked his oldest son G. Larry Nichols to partner with him. Their first acquisition was five natural gas wells southeast of Dallas. Devon went public in 1988 and Nichols retired in 1999; his son is now chairman and CEO. Devon today is considered the largest independent oil and natural gas producer in the United States, with operations extending through Canada and overseas. At the end of 2007 Devon had proven reserves of 2.5 billion boe and an enterprise value of $59 billion. Devon also is Oklahoma’s largest publicly traded company. Funeral services are scheduled for Thursday at First Presbyterian Church in Oklahoma City.

Uniform direction of price movement returned to the spot market Tuesday after a lengthy absence. Quotes rose across the board, with only one point failing to realize a double-digit advance. The gains were based primarily on a warm spell in the Northeast and the previous day’s 29-cent increase by the October futures contract, which will see its last day of trading Wednesday.

The saga of Canada’s Mackenzie Gas Project (MGP), a lengthy struggle marked by challenges from environmental and aboriginal groups and escalating costs, continued this week in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, where activists accused the project’s backers, including Imperial Oil Ltd., of overlooking greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and other potential impacts of the project.

The saga of Canada’s Mackenzie Gas Project (MGP), a lengthy struggle marked by challenges from environmental and aboriginal groups and escalating costs, continued last week in Yellowknife, NWT, where activists accused the project’s backers, including Imperial Oil Ltd., of overlooking greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and other potential impacts of the project.

Following a lengthy Delaware Public Service Commission (PSC) meeting last Tuesday, commissioners voted that Sussex County should become the home to some sort of wind farm as well as a new traditional gas-fired power plant. However, the three other state agencies that have been deliberating what if any generation should be built in Delaware ended up deferring decision so that they could continue internal deliberations.

Despite the widespread destruction of Gulf of Mexico infrastructure from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita last year, the lengthy and expensive restoration process and the ongoing risks of offshore operations, deepwater exploration and development is moving full steam ahead, said Chris Oynes, Minerals Management Service (MMS) regional director for the Gulf of Mexico, in an interview with NGI.

After returning to normal linepack levels over the weekend after a lengthy period of dealing with high linepack, Kern River was faced with a different problem Tuesday: low linepack in all four segments that the pipeline attributed to drafting of its system and loss of supply during the preceding 24 hours. “If drafting continues, Kern River will take whatever actions are necessary to ensure the integrity of the system is maintained,” it said.

The rise in cash prices — prompted by widespread heat waves and a lengthy string of futures advances — continued Wednesday, but signs were surfacing that Wednesday likely represented the market’s peak this week and softness would be setting in Thursday.