Minus

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell was close to signing the state’s budget into law Friday, minus a tax on natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale. The appropriations portion of the budget, still being negotiated Friday afternoon, was expected to include a plan to lease more state forest land to gas drillers.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell was close to signing the state’s budget into law Friday, minus a tax on natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale. The appropriations portion of the budget, still being negotiated Friday afternoon, was expected to include a plan to lease more state forest land to gas drillers.

A pared-down energy bill, minus the hotly disputed $21.8 billion tax package and renewable electricity mandate, was overwhelmingly passed by the House Tuesday. The next stop for the measure is President Bush, who is expected to sign the legislation.

With June rapidly coming to a close minus excessive heat in most regions of the country, WSI Corp. warned last week that the July through September time frame might require a little more air conditioning for most parts of the country.

With June rapidly coming to a close minus excessive heat in most regions of the country, WSI Corp. warned Monday that the July through September time frame might require a little more air conditioning for most parts of the country, Referencing a 30-year normal standard from 1971 to 2000, the Andover, MA-based forecaster said it expects the period to average warmer than normal in all locations except for the Pacific coastal cities, parts of Texas, and the extreme northern tier of states.

On a split vote and with a relatively large amount of discussion, the five-member California Public Utilities Commission, minus one of its commissioners, voted 3-1 Thursday to approve an expanded natural gas hedging program for Pacific Gas and Electric Co. The continuing concern over the impact of rising wholesale prices for natural gas in the wake of the two Gulf Coast hurricanes was a strong focus of both the action and discussion.

The underlying fundamentals for natural gas prices — minus any weather-driven problems — remain extremely bullish, and sentiment in the gas market will improve over the coming months, according to a new report by Raymond James. Its current 2005 gas price forecast is $6.80/Mcf, with 2006 and long-term gas forecasts at $7.50/Mcf.

The underlying fundamentals for natural gas prices — minus any weather-driven problems — remain extremely bullish, and sentiment in the gas market will improve over the coming months, according to a new report by Raymond James. Its current 2005 gas price forecast is $6.80/Mcf, with 2006 and long-term gas forecasts at $7.50/Mcf.

Despite the record natural gas well completions experienced last winter, Canada’s natural gas production — minus Ladyfern — appears to be on the decline, according to research by Lehman Brothers’ Oil & Gas unit. Total Canadian gas production year-to-date through April increased 2% above 2001. However, without the prolific Ladyfern find, year-to-date volumes would have been down about 2% from the same period and western Canadian production would be down 3%.