NYMEX

Pro-hydraulic fracturing (fracking) interests are growing in stature among political campaign contributors, according to a public interest advocacy group, which attributes their increased spending to increased discussion of the well stimulation practice.

GDF Suez Energy North America last week shut down its speculative natural gas and power trading operations, which were based in Houston.

Physical natural gas for delivery Tuesday on average fell approximately 7 cents in Monday’s trading. However, if Algonquin Citygate’s nearly $8 loss and Tennessee’s Zone 6 200 L $6-plus loss are factored out, the overall market change is a gain of about 6 cents.

Bulls were clearly in the driver’s seat for the week ending Nov. 22. The NGI National Spot Gas Average rose 11 cents to $3.69, and all actively traded points scored gains. Leading the pack higher was the trading at the Algonquin Citygates Friday for weekend and Monday delivery with a whopping $9.51 rise to $14.01. For the week, prices at the Algonquin Citygates rose a hefty $1.07 to $6.96. Other Northeast points weren’t far behind.Tennessee Zone 6 200 L added 80 cents to $6.57 and Iroquois Zone 2 was up 49 cents to $4.67. Deliveries to Transco Zone 6 New York added 44 cents to $4.08.

EXCO Resources, Inc.said Douglas H. Miller has resigned as both CEO and from the company’s board of directors, which he had also chaired. The board appointed Jeffrey D. Benjamin, a long-time investor and an independent board member, as non-executive board chairman. Benjamin has served on the board since October 2005 and previously served from 1998 to 2003. The board has started a search for the company’s next CEO.

A small conventional oil and gas company in Ohio recently settled a lawsuit with two individuals opposed to hydraulic fracturing (fracking) who allegedly referred to a road deicer and dust suppressant it manufactures as frack waste or frack water. The product, called AquaSalina, is processed from brine water produced during oil and gas drilling. The Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court ruled against Tish O’Dell and Michelle Aini, members of a group opposed to oil and gas drilling, and issued an injunction preventing them from further defaming Duck Creek Energy, of Brecksville, Ohio. Duck Creek filed the lawsuit in 2012. It was settled in September and the company announced the outcome earlier this month.

Spot natural gas for weekend and Monday delivery jumped on average 53 cents in Friday’s trading, thanks to multi-dollar surges at points in the Northeast ahead of the region’s first real freeze.

A small conventional oil and gas company in Ohio recently settled a lawsuit with two individuals opposed to hydraulic fracturing (fracking) who allegedly referred to a road deicer and dust suppressant it manufactures as frack waste or frack water. The product, called AquaSalina, is processed from brine water produced during oil and gas drilling. The Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court ruled against Tish O’Dell and Michelle Aini, members of a group opposed to oil and gas drilling, and issued an injunction preventing them from further defaming Duck Creek Energy, of Brecksville, Ohio. Duck Creek filed the lawsuit in 2012. It was settled in September and the company announced the outcome earlier this month.

In an Industry Brief about a Union Gas Ltd. open season (see Daily GPI, Nov. 21), the incremental volumes of firm capacity available were incorrect; they are about 948 MMcf/d, or almost 1 Bcf/d. NGI regrets the error.