Movement

With just minuscule movement downward in the amount of associated natural gas being flared, North Dakota’s top oil and gas official in his latest monthly report said that the state and industry are stuck at about a 28.5-29% level of flared associated gas.

Two major electricity grid operators, which together coordinate the movement of wholesale electricity in 14 of the nation’s most populated states and the District of Columbia, have agreed to a long-term strategy that includes a call for development of a shared understanding of regional natural gas delivery constraints on power generation.

The city council in Youngstown, OH, voted 5-2 Wednesday in favor of an ordinance that could open city-owned land to oil and natural gas drilling.

While over recent months the Marcellus and Utica shales have attracted most of the attention focused on shale gas supplies, the southeastern United States — where the shale boom hit earlier — is still dealing with the consequences of shifting supplies, according to a report by LCI Energy Insight and Energy Ventures Analysis.

The cash market continued lower in Friday trading for weekend through Monday delivery as market participants noted continuing mild weather and the movement of gas out of storage into the market. Particular weakness was noted in the desert Southwest, southern California, Rockies and Northeast points.

Transco Zone 6’s New York pool topped out at $13 and averaged nearly $12 Friday amid mixed price movement in most regions as traders kept in mind that the Sunday-through-Tuesday flows covered by their deals would be accompanied by the advent of frigid weather in much of the East. Several other Northeast points had peak quotes of $10 or more.

Xcel Energy’s Colorado utility is lowering its gas and electricity retail rates in the first quarter, continuing the downward movement of energy utility bills since the 2010-2011 heating season a year ago. Xcel has asked the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to approve a 2-4% reduction in its gas commodity adjustment and a 6.5-7% drop in its residential and small business electric commodity adjustment. Monthly residential and small business gas bills would drop from first quarter 2011 averages of $85 and $347, respectively, to corresponding averages in the 2012 first quarter of $81 and $341. Similarly, electric monthly residential and small business service would go from $67 and $110, respectively, a year ago to $63 and $102 in the first quarter. If the PUC approves the changes, the lower charges would be effective Jan. 1.

Although small losses were slightly dominant, a sizeable number of flat to modestly higher locations kept cash market movement mixed Monday. Most severely hot weather with triple-digit highs was still confined to the south-central and Southwest sections of the U.S., and although the South could expect to keep peaking in the low to mid 90s, that represented merely seasonal to slightly below-normal conditions for August.

Price movement was approximately evenly mixed between small gains and small losses of up to nearly a dime either way. Flat quotes were common, and none of the changes up or down reached double digits. The increases tended to be concentrated in the Midcontinent and Rockies.