Louisiana

Sparked by natural gas futures gains through Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Northeast and Louisiana points mostly posted single-digit gains Friday, while low gas demand and moderate temperatures allowed most of the market to shed anywhere from a couple of pennies to 83 cents, with the largest drops coming from the Midcontinent and the West.

Transco said unfavorable weather had delayed the progress of repairs to a section of pipe in Eugene Island Block 135 on its Southeast Louisiana Lateral that was damaged during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Transco now anticipates completion of the work on Feb. 15; it had previously expected to finish Jan. 31 (see Daily GPI, Jan. 16).

The Williams Companies announced Friday that it has restored the Cameron Meadows natural gas processing plant in southern Louisiana to its full design capacity of 500 MMcf/d.

A new coalition — the Energy Initiative Coalition — debuted in Washington, DC Friday. The group, which is co-chaired by former Sen. John Breaux of Louisiana and former Long Beach, CA, mayor Beverly O’Neill, will be different from other energy coalitions that focus solely on the interests of one group, said a Breaux spokesman.

A new coalition — the Energy Initiative Coalition — debuted in Washington, DC Friday. The group, which is co-chaired by former Sen. John Breaux of Louisiana and former Long Beach, CA, mayor Beverly O’Neill, will be different from other energy coalitions that focus solely on the interests of one group, said a Breaux spokesman.

Drilling success in the promising Cotton Valley Trend in East Texas and northern Louisiana by a handful of large and small exploration and production (E&P) companies is piquing a lot of interest — and not only because of the natural gas being discovered there.

Houston-based independent Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. said Tuesday it will sell its Gulf Coast offshore portfolio and South Louisiana properties to newly launched Phoenix Exploration Co. LP for $340 million. With the sale, Cabot will be 96% weighted to natural gas, with all of its operations concentrated onshore in North America.

ANR Pipeline said that due to an unforeseen engine outage at Patterson Compressor Station it will need to restrict the Patterson-to-Eunice delivery capacity in Louisiana to 650,000 Dth/d through July 17. Based on current nominations, the reductions are expected to result in the curtailment firm secondary and IT nominations.

Natural gas storage may “routinely fill up in the U.S. much earlier than in the past,” FERC Chairman Joseph Kelliher told reporters at a Washington, DC press briefing on Wednesday.