Maintain

Citing welding delays in repairing a Saturday rupture west of Cheyenne Station (see Daily GPI, Nov. 14), Wyoming Interstate Co. said it was required to maintain a curtailment of mainline capacity through its Laramie East constraint point to zero through at least Wednesday. Flow through the Medicine Bow Lateral was not impacted, WIC said. “At this time, WIC anticipates that it will be able to accept nominations…Wednesday for its full Wyoming mainline capacity” in the Timely cycle for Thursday’s gas day, the pipeline said.

Squeezed by lower natural gas prices and escalating capital costs, U.S.-based exploration and production (E&P) companies likely will maintain their current level of spending or slightly pull back in 2007, energy analysts said last week.

Squeezed by lower natural gas prices and escalating capital costs, U.S.-based exploration and production (E&P) companies likely will maintain their current level of spending or slightly pull back in 2007, said energy analysts Monday.

Former Enron Corp. CEO Jeffrey Skilling was sentenced last week to 24 years and four months in prison. Skilling, 52, continued to maintain his innocence at the sentencing, and said he will appeal.

A city-mandated independent financial review of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) last week supported the utility’s contention it needs new natural gas and renewable energy surcharges as well as permanent new retail water rates. The report prepared by the Barrington-Wellesley Group (BWG) will be considered by the LADWP five-member oversight board when it meets Tuesday.

A new battle is developing in a marathon industry campaign to maintain access to a prime Alberta drilling target — “sour” natural gas, steeped in hazardous hydrogen-sulphide, which accounts for nearly one-third of the main Canadian producing province’s reserves.

With almost 20% of the Gulf’s daily natural gas production still shut in, natural gas futures on Wednesday continued to trade in the upper $5s, despite a few bumps along the way. Trading volume was especially heavy as 140,516 contracts changed hands.

While August natural gas futures on Friday were unable to maintain Thursday’s rally, the prompt month was able to hold on to most of its gains. August closed down 1.8 cents at $6.134 while September futures dropped less than a penny to settle at $6.191.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s “rules of the road,” designed to maintain market integrity and eliminate manipulation (Order 644), instead will put a wrench in the works of efficient market operations, a number of market participants said in asking the Commission for further clarifications.