Locked

Nexen Inc., which locked up a position in the emerging Horn River Basin of British Columbia earlier this year, is setting aside more money to allow it to drill up to 16 natural gas wells in the play by the end of the year.

Having locked up reserves and pre-pay natural gas deals in the past two years, the infrastructure financing arm for a dozen Southern California municipal utilities is assessing its member utilities to determine if their tanks are full, or they still want to buy some peace of mind in terms of future fuel supplies for generating electricity in the southern half of the state. The assessment will come the first half of next year.

Having locked up reserves and pre-pay natural gas deals in the past two years, the infrastructure financing arm for a dozen Southern California municipal utilities is assessing its member utilities to determine if their tanks are full, or they still want to buy some peace of mind in terms of future fuel supplies for generating electricity in the southern half of the state. The assessment will come the first half of next year.

With $10 locked in their sights, natural gas bulls made it look easy Friday as they propelled the prompt natural gas contract to price levels seen on only a few brief occasions in the market’s 15-year history. After notching new 30-month highs Thursday, the September contract was fast out of the chute Friday as spiking crude oil prices prompted a wave of natural gas short-covering that drove prices to a high of $9.91 just before noon EDT.

Four years after the power crisis that put out the lights in California, the state is still locked in an untenable position, facing a growing load with little net gain in generation capacity, relying on a fleet of aging power plants with the prospect of reduced imports from the Pacific Northwest and continuing policies that keep investment out of the state and limit demand response, according to witnesses at a joint hearing presided over by federal and state regulators last Thursday.

While hinting that his company has locked up liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal development on the West Coast with its supposedly easily expandable Baja, Mexico facility, Sempra Energy COO Donald Felsinger told an energy financial conference Tuesday that the Gulf of Mexico most likely will be the center of new LNG receiving terminals because of its access to national markets, along with readily available processing and storage infrastructure. Felsinger spoke at the Banc of America Securities Energy & Power Conference in Las Vegas.

While hinting that his company has locked up liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal development on the West Coast with its supposedly easily expandable Baja, Mexico facility, Sempra Energy COO Donald Felsinger told an energy financial conference Tuesday that the Gulf of Mexico most likely will be the center of new LNG receiving terminals because of its access to national markets, along with readily available processing and storage infrastructure. Felsinger spoke at the Banc of America Securities Energy & Power Conference in Las Vegas.

Arizona’s regulatory commission last week pre-approved Arizona Public Service’s (APS) request to get close to half of its future natural gas supplies from the proposed Kinder Morgan Silver Canyon interstate transmission pipeline, which will bring gas from New Mexico’s San Juan Basin and from the northern Rockies via a connection with TransColorado Gas Transmission.

Arizona’s regulatory commission last week pre-approved Arizona Public Service (APS) request to get close to half of its future natural gas supplies from the proposed Kinder Morgan Silver Canyon interstate transmission pipeline, which will bring gas from New Mexico’s San Juan Basin and from the northern Rockies via a connection with TransColorado Gas Transmission.