natural gas

In a calm before the storm moment, natural gas values for delivery Wednesday plunged in Tuesday’s trading but still retained lofty levels. A forecast winter storm over much of the East was expected to be brutal, and next-day power prices firmed ahead of the event.

Panhandle Oil and Gas Inc. produced record amounts of oil and natural gas during its 2014 fiscal first quarter, and the company — which doesn’t operate any wells, but owns acreage in several states, especially Oklahoma and Texas — saw net income rise 43%.

Colorado oil and natural gas operators in the Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin that were hit hard by floods last year learned a lot from the four-week experience, and the Colorado Oil/Gas Association (COGA) will be publishing a report documenting the best management practices (BMP) developed.

As the Midwest and Northeast regions of the United States struggle with bitterly cold weather and low supplies and high prices for propane, exports of the fuel — especially to Europe, Asia and Latin America — have risen more than 75% in a year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports.

Bakken Shale biggie Continental Resources Inc. has joined a growing list of U.S. onshore operators indicating that rough winter weather is cutting into volumes on a lack of completions and takeaway.

Hawaiian Electric and the U.S. Navy are in talks for plans to build what would be the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in the state at Pearl Harbor, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported. The utility has been looking at an LNG option since last year at the behest of Gov. Neil Abercrombie. A near-shore floating terminal is being contemplated. Hawaii currently does not use any natural gas for power generation purposes. Meanwhile, Hawaii Gas, also known as The Gas Co. LLC, is planning to receive LNG deliveries originating from the mainland (see Daily GPI, Jan. 18, 2013). LNG imports could cut residents’ and businesses’ oil-based energy bills in Hawaii substantially during the next 20 years, according to a University of Hawaii study (see Daily GPI, Jan. 9, 2013).

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) and seven leading Senate Democrats have asked the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to follow through before the end of February on its agreement last month to share trading data with FERC.

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and CME Group each experienced a surge in natural gas trading volumes in January, with market volatility and the unusually cold weather that swept over much of the country last month the likely causes.

Analysts with Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. (TPH) said the market should not get “sucked in” to the pull on storage this winter, nor the rise in natural gas prices. It’s not likely to be repeated next year — and the market still is oversupplied.