Occurred

The Macondo well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) occurred because “corners were cut,” but the risks associated with development of offshore oil and natural gas resources still are relatively small, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour told a House panel Thursday.

Price drops got larger and occurred across the board Thursday after several instances of firmness had remained a day earlier. An ongoing moderation of temperatures in northern market areas combined with a prior-day dip of 9.3 cents by prompt-month futures to further the cash market weakness.

The results of FERC’s ongoing inquiry into the causes of energy disruptions that occurred across the Southwest two months ago are not yet known, but the incident has some at the Commission rethinking the relationship between the gas and electric industries.

The results of FERC’s ongoing inquiry into the causes of energy disruptions that occurred across the Southwest two months ago are not yet known, but the incident has some at the Commission rethinking the relationship between the gas and electric industries.

The spot market showed some signs of returning strength as advances that were concentrated occurred in the West and Northeast outnumbered losses Tuesday, with flat numbers again in vogue. This came a day after a large majority of points softened.

In a major speech on national energy security Wednesday, President Obama promoted natural gas as a way forward for the United States and said he has directed Energy Secretary Steven Chu to work with other agencies, the natural gas industry, states and environmental experts to improve the safety of hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

The transition to spring may have officially occurred Sunday, and sources indicated that many people were enjoying the appropriate weather. But there seems to be some trouble getting Old Man Winter off the seasonal stage, as a significant winter storm bearing snow starts moving westward from the Plains into the Midwest as early as Tuesday. From there colder conditions will continue spreading through the Northeast and eventually the South.

California, its utilities and the rest of the West Coast, went on alert Friday in response to the 8.9 Richter Scale quake that occurred offshore northeastern Japan, and the only significant impact was the closure for 2-1/2 hours of a natural gas-fired electric generation plant in the northern end of the state. Otherwise, California’s two major coastal nuclear generating plants and a host of gas and power facilities were unaffected.

It may have occurred in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, miles away from the U.S. onshore, but last April’s Macondo well blowout contaminated the image of natural gas and oil producers onshore as well, the CEO of Pioneer Natural Resources Co. said last week.