natural gas data

With the shoulder season in full swing where it is cool enough to turn off the air conditioning yet not cold enough to turn on the heat,NGI’s October Bidweek National Spot Gas Average was a nickel lower than September at $3.44, yet 47 cents higher than the October 2012 bidweek average of $2.97. Most regions of the country for October 2013 eased anywhere from a couple of pennies to as much as a dime.

A U.S. arm of Royal Dutch Shell plc is throwing in the towel in the Kansas portion of the Mississippian Lime, selling off 45 producing wells and about 600,000 net lease acres. Last week the operator also pulled the plug on an oil shale research center in Colorado.

Summer is over and the shoulder season, where air conditioners have been turned off and heaters have yet to be turned on, has arrived is the message that was sent by natural gas cash prices for the week ending Sept. 27, as a vast majority of individual pricing points across the country declined by 20-plus cents. NGI’s National Spot Gas Average for the week came in at $3.47, down 20 cents from the previous week.

Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), which includes under its regulatory umbrella much of the state’s natural gas and oil industry, needs to open its doors wider to public scrutiny, said acting DEP Secretary E. Christopher Abruzzo.

Total natural gas used for power generation in the United States was down 14% between January and July 2013 compared with the same seven month period in 2012, due primarily to higher gas prices relative to coal prices this year, according to a report issued last week by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

As natural gas production steadily increases in the Utica Shale and a new joint venture (JV) emerges to handle midstream services, the business model for Dominion East Ohio (DEO), whose operations run through the heart of the shale play, is forecast to change in some areas, but not in others.

AFederal Energy Regulatory Commission(FERC) administrative law judge (ALJ) has approved an uncontested settlement betweenViking Gas Transmissionand its shippers resolving charges that the company over-recovered costs, resulting in unjust and unreasonable rates for shippers. The settlement [RP13-185] was negotiated between FERC staff, Viking and 16 shippers. FERC may approve or reject the decision in full or in part. FERC’s charges were based on Viking’s Form 2 cost and revenue information from 2010, which staff said showed that the pipeline had substantially over-recovered its cost of service. Since 2009, FERC has initiated several investigations into rates (seeNGI,Nov. 23, 2009). The settlement requires Viking to reduce all base tariff rates, effective Nov. 14, 2012, by 2% and to file changes to its gas tariff within 15 days following a final order. The reduced base settlement rates would take effect on Jan. 1, 2014 and remain in effect for at least one year.

More pipeline capacity out of the glutted Marcellus Shale region could be on the way depending upon the success of pipeline open seasons announced last week (see related story).

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbetthas nominatedE. Christopher AbruzzoandEllen Ferrettito head the stateDepartment of Environmental Protection(DEP) and theDepartment of Conservation and Natural Resources(DCNR), respectively. Both are serving as acting secretaries of their respective agencies. The nominations must now be approved by the state Senate. Corbett tapped Abruzzo, his deputy chief of staff, to lead the DEP afterMichael Krancerresigned (seeNGI,March 25). Corbett asked Ferretti to lead the DCNR after firingRichard Allanover an email scandal.