Mistake

A bet to procure a big reserve of guar gum, an additive used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) fluid, proved to be a costly mistake in the second quarter, Halliburton Co. CEO Dave Lesar told energy analysts on Monday.

The two state chief executives agreed that environmental safeguards are imperative from both the public’s and the industry’s perspective. They offered their views during a keynote panel discussion moderated by the huge annual energy confab’s founder Daniel Yergin, the well-known global energy author/expert.

In a case pitting a Sullivan County, NY, homeowner against his property owners association (POA), a Sullivan Civil Supreme Court judge has permanently barred Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. from drilling in the residential subdivision, which is located in the Marcellus Shale.

Any attempt by Congress to re-regulate natural gas prices to putan end to the escalation in wholesale prices seen this year wouldbe a “mistake,” said FERC Chairman James Hoecker, even though hebelieves $4 gas is too high.

In the wake of generation shortages and price spikes that haveriddled the western power markets this summer, California’s newestregulators last week indicated the state’s experiment with furtherelectricity unbundling should be halted completely or at a minimumplaced on temporary hold. At least that was the message deliveredwhen the two regulators roundly criticized a new California PublicUtilities Commission staff report that advocated continuedunbundling of the state’s electric distribution market.