Mexico

As a glaring footnote to natural gas price volatility sparked immediately after the two big Gulf of Mexico hurricanes late last summer, Portland, OR-based Northwest Natural Gas Co. and some of its largest customers are locked in a dispute over retail natural gas deals the utility offered them.

“The overall damage caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita has shown them to be the greatest natural disasters to oil and gas development in the history of the Gulf of Mexico,” said MMS Regional Director Chris Oynes.

The Center for Liquefied Natural Gas (CLNG) said Tuesday new data shows the actual impact of offshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects on marine life in the Gulf of Mexico will be “substantially less” than originally identified by environmental analyses. CLNG arrived at its findings following an independent ecological review of the analyses.

The aftermath of last summer’s devastating hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico continued to play havoc with London-based BP plc’s production in the final quarter of 2005, with output down from a year ago and lost profits and repairs costing nearly $1 billion.

The Bush administration has redrawn the boundaries in the eastern Gulf of Mexico in such a manner that it gives Louisiana authority over waters that are close to 100 miles from Florida’s shores, and includes portions of the gas-rich Lease Sale 181, according to a legislative aide for Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), a staunch opponent of oil and gas drilling off the Sunshine State’s coastline.

Because of the lingering supply disruptions in the Gulf of Mexico and the late onset of colder-than-normal winter weather, Raymond James analysts this week hiked their 1Q2006 price estimate to $12.50/Mcf from $8.25, and their 2Q2006 forecast to $9.75 from $9. However, Houston-based Gerdes Group is forecasting a year-over-year moderation, with 2006 1Q prices averaging $8.26/MMBtu.

Williams said it has started receiving gas and oil production at its Devil’s Tower deepwater spar in the eastern Gulf of Mexico from the Triton and Goldfinger fields, 140 miles southeast of New Orleans on Mississippi Canyon Blocks 771, 772 and 728.

In the wake of the energy price/supply volatility caused by this fall’s devastating Gulf of Mexico hurricanes, the California Energy Commission (CEC) announced last Friday that it has teamed with the federal Department of Energy (DOE) to offer free energy assessments to some of the state’s and nation’s largest energy users. The assessments are designed to help large industrial customers control their rising energy costs and conserve on natural gas supplies that are expected to be tight this winter.

Offshore repairs to the Southern Natural Gas pipeline system in the Gulf of Mexico were suspended last week because of adverse weather conditions, the operator said in a posting on its website. New projected in service dates for the receipt points east of Main Pass 298 junction platform and for receipt points on damaged laterals will be posted after the repairs resume, the El Paso affiliate said.