Look

While customer growth has slowed with the economic downturn during the past 18 months, credit and finances for natural gas distribution companies look strong, according to a report by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) released earlier in January. The rating agency expects supportive regulatory decisions and continued access to capital market for the gas utility industry, the report said.

The eastern two-thirds of the United States will continue to be dominated by colder-than-normal temperatures through April, while the West can look forward to warmer weather, according to the latest seasonal forecast from Andover, MA-based WSI Corp.

While customer growth has slowed with the economic downturn during the past 18 months, credit and finances for natural gas distribution companies look strong, according to a report by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P). The rating agency expects supportive regulatory decisions and continued access to capital market for the gas utility industry, the report said.

Anyone looking to the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and wondering where all the liquefied natural gas (LNG) is need only look across the Atlantic to the United Kingdom, where gas prices are higher and tanker traffic is brisk, an analyst noted Monday.

NiSource Inc. may spend as much as $1.2 billion on a pair of pipelines by 2016 and look to partners to invest another $500 million in an effort to increase capacity out of the Marcellus Shale, the company said Thursday.

The “golden era” is approaching for natural gas — but don’t look for it to begin this year, Range Resources Corp. CEO John Pinkerton said last week.

The “golden era” is approaching for natural gas — but don’t look for it to begin this year, Range Resources Corp. CEO John Pinkerton said Monday.

Earnings report season is quickly approaching for the energy sector, but some natural gas-focused investors may look beyond 1Q2009 profits to hear what’s ahead in the oversupplied domestic markets. Some energy analysts don’t foresee gains in gas prices until 2010, and at least one analyst thinks it is an opportune time for the majors to build their portfolios both onshore and offshore in North America.

Two Alaska lawmakers are asking the state’s governor and attorney general to take another look at the natural gas pipeline license issued to TransCanada Alaska Co. LLC under the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA) to see if it is still a good deal for the state. Gov. Sarah Palin said the resolution is unnecessary.