Minute

The turning of the tap on the Rockies Express (REX)-West pipeline, expected Jan. 1, won’t come a minute too soon for Questar Corp., whose exploration and production (E&P) business shut in about 4.4 Bcfe (net) of unhedged Rockies gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) production in response to low regional market prices during the third quarter.

The turning of the tap on the Rockies Express (REX)-West pipeline, expected Jan. 1, won’t come a minute too soon for Questar Corp., whose exploration and production (E&P) business shut in about 4.4 Bcfe (net) of unhedged Rockies gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) production in response to low regional market prices during the third quarter.

Lightning was suspected as the cause of a 50-minute power outage Wednesday afternoon that knocked out power to nearly half a million people on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and in the western part of the Bronx, Consolidated Edison Co. of New York (ConEd) said last week. The utility also was blitzed by more outages in other parts of the city following severe thunderstorms later Wednesday night.

With the official start to the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season beginning, the energy industry on Thursday received no last-minute reprieve from the recent forecasts calling for an active season.

With the official start to the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season beginning, the energy industry on Thursday received no last-minute reprieve from the recent forecasts calling for an active season.

In a move that drew widespread local news media attention, the Long Beach, CA, City Council last Tuesday at the last minute postponed until late June a decision on whether to break off two years of negotiations on behalf of its municipal energy department with the sponsors of a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal in its harbor.

In a move that drew widespread local news media attention, the Long Beach, CA, City Council Tuesday evening at the last minute postponed until late next month a decision on whether to break off two years of negotiations on behalf of its municipal energy department with the sponsors of a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal in its harbor.

In sympathy with higher crude prices, and as another winter storm approached the Northeast, natural gas futures turned modestly higher in light pre-holiday trading Tuesday. Book squaring was the main feature in the abbreviated session. January closed 3 cents higher at $5.146.

The New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) opened a new 90-minute trading session on Friday for 32 new over-the-counter energy contracts, including multiple natural gas basis contracts and some new 400 MWh power contracts based on delivery in New York. Nymex said it also is providing clearing services for the new contracts.