Looming

With across-the-board federal budget cuts looming in the wake of the congressional super committee’s meltdown, the current spate of natural gas pipeline safety initiatives is unlikely to be harmed, according to a Washington, DC-based spokesperson for the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA).

With across-the-board federal budget cuts looming in the wake of the congressional super committee’s meltdown, the current spate of natural gas pipeline safety initiatives is unlikely to be harmed, according to a Washington, DC-based spokesperson for the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA).

With congressional budget talks at an apparent standstill and a government shutdown looming at press time Friday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and other federal agencies were preparing to operate in an essential operations-only scenario, while the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said it would conduct business as usual — at least temporarily.

With congressional budget talks at an apparent standstill and a government shutdown looming, FERC and other federal agencies are preparing to operate in an essential operations-only scenario.

With new financial reform rules from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) still looming ahead, trading exchange heavyweights IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) and CME Group Inc. this month posted strong fourth quarter and full-year earnings. ICE’s 4Q2010 revenues increased by 11% from 4Q2009 to $285 million, while CME Group recorded a 14% increase to $763 million.

With new financial reform rules from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) still looming ahead, trading exchange heavyweights IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) and CME Group Inc. this month posted strong fourth quarter and full-year earnings. ICE’s 4Q2010 revenues increased by 11% from 4Q2009 to $285 million, while CME Group recorded a 14% increase to $763 million.

With portions of the Northeast still digging out from a weekend blizzard and another large winter storm looming over the Upper Midwest, Andover, MA-based WSI Corp. released a forecast on Monday — the first official day of winter — calling for temperatures across almost all of the country to average cooler than normal from January to March.

With Thursday’s record storage report withdrawal firmly in the rear-view mirror and a significant warm-up in the East looming for much of February, March natural gas futures went in search of lower prices Friday in a large way. The prompt-month contract put in a low of $7.720 before settling the day at $7.740, down 33.4 cents from Thursday’s close and 21.4 cents lower than the previous Friday’s finish.

The need for natural gas in the West is not going away, but where added supplies will come from and at what price are looming details still to be fully worked out, according to a panel of industry executives at the LDC Forum — Rockies & the West annual two-day conference in Los Angeles Tuesday. Generally, the panelists outlined growing North American gas demand, new supply alignments and increased volatility that will have energy planners scratching their heads through the 2010-12 period.