natural gas prices

A week after an inquiry reported that hydraulic fracturing (fracking) frightens the public in Nova Scotia, the province’s Liberal government promised Wednesday to ban the practice.

Natural gas futures fell following the release of government storage figures that were somewhat greater than what traders were expecting.

Natural Gas Vehicle (NGV) fuel and fueling station developer Clean Energy Fuels Corp. at the end of last month was granted a natural gas export approval from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to cover Canada, Mexico and other free trade agreement (FTA) nations. A Clean Fuels spokesperson told NGI the Newport Beach, CA-based company has no intention of getting into the full-scale LNG export business, although it is working on a containerized LNG project that involves the gas utility in Hawaii (see Daily GPI,April 10). Such shipments to another state such as Hawaii do not require DOE authorization. Clean Energy is negotiating with two Canadian trucking companies that plan to switch their fleets to run on LNG, and the DOE export authorization is a means for fuel supplier to serve the Canadian market. The DOE authorization is for a two-year period covering LNG shipments by truck, rail, barge or other waterborne vessel up to a combined total supply equivalent of 100 Bcf.

Physical traders Thursday made sure they got their deals done before the Energy Information Administration (EIA) storage report and they elected to sell and sell often. Prices at some Northeast points tumbled by double digits ahead of a cold front, but for the most part the day’s broad decline was limited to a few pennies.

Federal and state regulators have issued air quality permits to Formosa Plastics Corp. for a $2 billion expansion project at its petrochemical plant in Point Comfort, TX.

Federal regulators late Tuesday announced a settlement with Trans Energy Inc. that could find the small Marcellus Shale pure-play explorer paying a $3 million penalty and millions more to restore streams and wetlands at 15 sites across West Virginia for violating the Clean Water Act (CWA).

Growing crude and condensate production from the Eagle Ford Shale was too good for Buckeye Partners LP to ignore. The partnership is buying into Gulf Coast midstream assets that serve the play and offer growth opportunities with expansion currently in progress.

A unit of Royal Dutch Shell plc has drilled two natural gas wells into the Utica Shale in Pennsylvania near the New York border, 100 miles-plus from most of the current activity, news that suggests a much bigger potential for the far-reaching formation.

U.S. natural gas and oil exports would reinforce North America’s long-term energy production future, improve the domestic trade balance and stabilize the global energy system, Royal Dutch Shell plc’s chief said Tuesday.