Nation

Coalbed methane leaseholders in Wyoming and across the nationhave been saved from “suffering extensive economic trauma,” Sens.Craig Thomas (R-WY) and Mike Enzi (R-WY) and Rep. Barbara Cubin(R-WY) said in a joint statement last week.

Coalbed methane leaseholders in Wyoming and across the nationhave been saved from “suffering extensive economic trauma,” Sens.Craig Thomas and Mike Enzi and Rep. Barbara Cubin said in a jointstatement yesterday.

Joseph P. Kearney, 52, a leading figure in the energy servicesindustry responsible for building the nation’s largest independentelectric generation producer, died of an apparent heart attackwhile in Washington, D.C., Oct. 3 to attend a charity dinner forthe Lombardi Cancer Research Foundation.

Nation Fuel Gas Supply Corp. is holding an open season for19,100 Dth/d of long-term firm transportation capacity that hasbeen turned backed to its system. The open season will terminate onSept. 11.

Relationships are still in the developmental stages between thenation’s largest natural gas distributor, Southern California GasCo., and a new set of fossil fuel electric generation plant ownerswho bought a dozen plants totaling more than 8,000 MW of capacityand billions of cubic feet of natural gas load earlier this year.

The nation’s largest municipal electric utility is rapidlyincreasing its participation in robust wholesale energycompetition, although as a government-run entity it is not directlya part of California’s ongoing restructuring of electricity andnatural gas. In the fiscal year just ended, the Los AngelesDepartment of Water and Power did about $110 million in wholesaleenergy deals, according to department sources, including one of itsbiggest natural gas contracts ever for more than 6 Bcf of suppliescovering the next six months.

The rapid pace of gas injections into the nation’s storagefacilities this spring (9.4 Bcf/d, or 5.4 Bcf/d greater than overthe same period last year) and the current massive surplus ofstored gas (331 Bcf) compared to levels at the same time over thepast four years prompted Wefa Inc. to turn extremely bearish onspot prices. The additional storage this year is equal to 5% ofdemand for the remainder of the non-heating season, Wefa said inthe May edition of its Natural Gas Monthly.

CNG Energy Services of Pittsburgh signed a three-year contractwith Ormet Corp., one the nation’s largest aluminum producers andsuppliers of aluminum products, to provide gas management servicefor eight Ormet facilities in the United States. The facilitiesconsume about 12 Bcf/year