Life

Williams said Thursday it has signed agreements to transport oil and natural gas for the life of the leases in the Blind Faith field in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico for joint owners Chevron Corp. and Kerr-McGee Corp. The field has an estimated gross resource potential of more than 100 million boe, and initial production is expected to be 30,000 bbl/d of oil and 30 MMcf/d of natural gas.

The Quoddy Bay liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Maine apparently still has some life left despite hitting a major road block in March when the Town of Perry rejected a terminal location on Gleason Cove (see Daily GPI, March 30). Project planners have negotiated a new deal with the Passamaquoddy Native American tribe for an alternative site on tribal land at a place called Split Rock on the Pleasant Point reservation.

Dynegy Inc., which started life as the Natural Gas Clearinghouse in the 1980s, would cut the cord on its last tie to the natural gas business with its proposed sale of its extensive midstream natural gas liquids (NGL) asset and marketing network, a move that analysts say could bring in as much as $3 billion. The Houston-based company put its NGL business on the market with an announcement last week.

Dynegy, which started life as the Natural Gas Clearinghouse in the 1980s, would cut the cord on its last tie to the natural gas business with its proposed sale of its extensive midstream natural gas liquids (NGL) asset and marketing network, a move that analysts say could bring in as much as $3 billion. The Houston-based company put its NGL business on the market with an announcement Monday.

Natural gas bears roared back to life Monday and put to rest any doubt about who is in charge of the market. It took less than an hour for these sellers to rescind Friday’s 24-cent advance, but that was not enough. By the time the dust had settled and the last trade tabulated, the numbers for Monday’s trading session were impressive. With its $6.762 settle, the December contract had fallen 35.3 cents from Friday’s close and down nearly $2.80 from its late October peak.

Natural gas bears roared back to life Monday and put to rest any doubt about who is in charge of the market. It took less than an hour for these sellers to rescind Friday’s 24-cent advance, but that was not enough. By the time the dust had settled and the last trade tabulated, the numbers for Monday’s trading session were impressive. With its $6.762 settle, the December contract had fallen 35.3 cents from Friday’s close and down nearly $2.80 from its late October peak.

Taking their case to the court of public opinion on the steps of the state capitol in Sacramento, California’s leading utility consumer group, TURN (The Utility Reform Network) scheduled a rally for a “Sane Energy Future for California” Wednesday. The event brought together small community and business organizations with Fabian Nunez, the speaker of the state Assembly and author of the electric industry reform bill (AB 2006) that was set for a key legislative committee vote.

Calgary-based Pengrowth Corp. plans to acquire the remaining Western Canadian assets of Murphy Oil Corp. for C$550 million, the companies announced Thursday. The transaction is expected to be completed in late May.

In an attempt to breathe new life into the languishing energy bill, Chairman Pete Domenici (R-NM) of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee announced on Monday a new strategy in which he plans to move the $13 billion tax portion of the measure through the Senate on a separate track ahead of the rest of the legislation.