natural gas prices

Former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge told an oil and gas industry audience in Pittsburgh last week that digital security should be a top priority at their companies, adding that current policies are outdated and the threat of cyber attacks grows by the day.

Green Group Holdings unit GGH Wyoming LLC has opened its Grasslands Environmental facility near Bill, WY, to serve the waste disposal and water needs of the state’s oil and gas producers. The facility includes a pull-through commercial oilfield wastewater disposal facility, an industrial landfill, a non-potable water supply well, and two Class I injection wells. Grasslands Environmental covers 482 acres and will contain about 10 million cubic yards of permitted airspace for the disposal of solid waste generated by the oil and gas industry. The facility will offer disposal of produced and flowback water, contaminated soil, and industrial wastes. The design of the facility ensures that trucks are always moving forward to minimize backing within the facility. Another safety feature of the facility is active water transfer, meaning control over water is maintained at all times, ensuring there is no risk of losing containment, according to Green Group. Grasslands Environmental began fresh water sales in August and will begin accepting wastewater in late October, the company said. The industrial landfill and the deep well injection sites are in the permitting process and expected to be operational next year. Green Group specializes in the development of large-scale infrastructure, environmental permitting and operations for projects such as industrial parks, water supply facilities, transfer stations, facilities for processing recyclable materials, and solid waste landfills.

Strong gains swept through the physical market in Monday’s trading as a precipitous drop in next-day temperatures and a strong screen served notice to the bears that maybe their time is up.

In yet another sign of rising shale gas production and corresponding growth opportunities in the midstream sector, one of the nation’s largest utilities companies, NiSource Inc., announced a plan Sunday to spin-off its Columbia Pipeline Group (CPG) into a separate publicly traded company that would form a master limited partnership (MLP).

November natural gas is expected to open 4 cents higher Monday morning at $4.07 as traders discount moderate near-term weather and focus on the risks and rewards of a higher pricing environment. Overnight oil markets were mixed.

Encana Corp. on Monday placed another transformative piece into its puzzle to move from the natural gas world into oil, agreeing to pay a total of $7.1 billion for Permian Basin operator Athlon Energy Inc., giving it 140,000 net acres in the heart of the oily Midland sub-basin.

Sempra Energy plans to break ground for its Cameron Liquefaction Project on Oct. 23 at the site of its existing liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal at Hackberry, LA. The project has all federal approvals and is expected to cost $9-10 billion using many of Cameron LNG’s existing facilities. It will be composed of three liquefaction trains capable of exporting up to 12 million tons of LNG annually, or about 1.7 Bcf/d of gas (see Daily GPI, June 19). Full commercial operation is expected in 2019.

Physical gas for weekend and Monday delivery was mixed in Friday’s trading as double-digit drops at eastern points along with declines in California were able to dominate widespread market strength in the Gulf Coast, Great Lakes and Rockies.

Traders for the week ended Sept. 26 were left with a couple of large unanswered questions as prominent eastern trading points probed lows not seen in 16 years, yet at the same time many cash as well as futures managed to finish at the high end of a longstanding trading range between $3.75 and $4.00.