Lists

Building natural gas reserves in the Fayetteville Shale appears to be high on the wish lists for two Houston-based producers. Leading leaseholder Southwestern Energy Co. said it will spend $1 billion in the coming year to expand its growing gas production in the Arkansas play, and up-and-comer Petrohawk Energy Corp. has added to its stake in the region.

Building natural gas reserves in the Fayetteville Shale appears to be high on the wish lists for two Houston-based producers. Leading leaseholder Southwestern Energy Co. said it will spend $1 billion in the coming year to expand its growing gas production in the Arkansas play, and up-and-comer Petrohawk Energy Corp. has added to its stake in the region.

In its last meeting of the year Dec. 15, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a third (and hopefully final) rehearing order for its 2003 final affiliate rule and gave a run-down of its major accomplishments in 2004, which included certification of 20 major pipelines, three storage facilities and now three proposed LNG terminals. The certifications represent 5.7 Bcf/d of pipeline capacity, 7 Bcf/d of storage capacity and 2.1 Bcf/d of regasified LNG deliverability.

In its last meeting of the year, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a third (and hopefully final) rehearing order for its 2003 final affiliate rule and gave a run-down of its major accomplishments in 2004, which included certification of 20 major pipelines, three storage facilities and now three proposed LNG terminals. The certifications represent 5.7 Bcf/d of pipeline capacity, 7 Bcf/d of storage capacity and 2.1 Bcf/d of regasified LNG deliverability.

According to 400 oil and gas executives and investors, the largest issue currently facing the U.S. energy industry is the shortage of domestic sources of natural gas. The poll — taken at an industry conference in Houston held by RBC Capital Markets — found that more than half of the respondents likened the situation to being as bad as or worse than the oil crisis of the 1970s, while 48% said this crisis would be manageable.