Looks

December looks like it will be crunch time for rising natural gas prices, according to Pacific Gas and Electric Co., which Wednesday released a warning to its customers that it expects an 11% hike in average retail bills this month. The run-up in prices has been widely predicted by industry, utility and government sources for some time, the PG&E utility said in urging its gas customers to take steps to lessen the impact of the higher wholesale costs.

December looks like it will be crunch time for rising natural gas prices, according to Pacific Gas and Electric Co., which Wednesday released a warning to its customers that it expects an 11% hike in average retail bills this month. The run-up in prices has been widely predicted by industry, utility and government sources for some time, the PG&E utility said in urging its gas customers to take steps to lessen the impact of the higher wholesale costs.

Looking to help bring down wholesale natural gas prices with an infusion of new Pacific Rim supplies into the West, Calpine Corp. has made the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) a integral part of its fuel strategy and begun very preliminary analysis of a possible receiving terminal in the far northwest corner of Oregon at the mouth of the Columbia River.

Looking to help bring down wholesale natural gas prices with an infusion of new Pacific Rim supplies into the West, Calpine Corp. has made the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) a integral part of its fuel strategy and begun very preliminary analysis of a possible receiving terminal in the far northwest corner of Oregon at the mouth of the Columbia River.

Looking to help bring down wholesale natural gas prices with an infusion of new Pacific Rim supplies into the West, Calpine Corp. has made the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) a integral part of its fuel strategy and begun very preliminary analysis of a possible receiving terminal in the far northwest corner of Oregon at the mouth of the Columbia River.

Canada’s National Energy Board (NEB) said in a new report that it plans to coordinate with other providers of Canadian energy data, including possibly partnering with Statistics Canada, Canadian associations and end-users, to provide more detailed and timely information on the natural gas market.

Canada’s National Energy Board (NEB) said in a new report that it plans to coordinate with other providers of Canadian energy data, including possibly partnering with Statistics Canada, Canadian associations and end-users, to provide more detailed and timely information on the natural gas market.

The good news is that natural gas demand looks like it will only rise slightly in 2004 and stay flat into 2005; the bad news is it appears $6/Mcf prices might be here to stay for a while, according to the latest Short-Term Energy Outlook from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is striking out into new gas supply ventures, looking at buying the undeveloped California portion of Questar Corp.’s converted oil-to-natural gas Southern Trails pipeline, preparing to sign its first of three pre-paid, 10-year natural gas supply deals with a Native American tribe, and joining with other Southern California munis to line up natural gas reserves behind a new power plant in Burbank, CA.