October

Mexico’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal received its first LNG shipment Thursday and is scheduled to begin commercial operations in October. Terminal de LNG de Altamira, a joint venture between Royal Dutch Shell plc (50%), Total and Mitsui (each 25%), announced the arrival of the 138,000-cubic-meter shipment at the facility near Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico on the country’s Northeast coast.

Prior to making the annual October adjustment in retail natural gas utility rates to reflect past and future wholesale commodity prices for the state’s three private-sector gas utilities, the Oregon Public Utility Commission (PUC) will hold its annual Natural Gas Outlook workshop Thursday at its headquarters in Salem, OR. Utility officials, PUC staff, the regional gas association and proponents of liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects in the state will made presentations.

Base case Henry Hub gas prices are expected to average only $5.83 for the gas storage injection season (April-October) and $6.50/MMBtu this year, according to the latest Monthly Gas Update from Arlington, VA-based consulting firm Energy and Environmental Analysis (EEA). The forecast excludes the potential impact of severe weather or significant hurricane activity, but factors in high gas storage levels, rising liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports and a return to normal summer temperatures.

Friday’s October aftermarket-ending trading was much like that of the day before: large price drops across the board. The difference was that declines got much larger at nearly all points. Moderating weather trends, a bearish storage report, prior-day screen weakness and the usual weekend drop in industrial load were cited as factors in the softness.

Despite continued stagnation in terms of shut-in returns from the Gulf of Mexico, October natural gas futures continued to explore lower on Tuesday, testing support lines and settling below $11 for the first time since Hurricane Katrina hit at $10.763, down 26.8 cents from Monday.

The cash market was mixed Tuesday because of slightly weaker futures prices (October down 3.4 cents to $11.657) and continuing uncertainty over the status of Gulf production and the extent of the damage to Gulf infrastructure. Daily cash price changes were anywhere from down nearly $2 in the case of Florida Gas Transmission’s Zone 2 and 3 to up about 30 cents at a couple of Gulf Coast points.

Colorado Interstate Gas (CIG) has begun construction of its Raton Basin expansion project, which is slated to be in service by October. The $61 million expansion will add 104,600 Dth/d of transmission capacity to the section of CIG’s existing pipeline system from south central Colorado to the panhandle of Oklahoma.

A total of 426,000 NYSEG and Rochester Gas & Electric (RG&E) electricity customers made an electricity supply choice during an October-through-December enrollment period, the two Energy East Corp. subsidiaries said last Monday, with the bulk of the customers picking power supply plans sponsored by NYSEG and RG&E.

Confused as to what path Hurricane Ivan will take following a number of revised forecasts, October natural gas futures traded tentatively for a majority of the shortened regular session, before taking a significant step lower towards settlement. Futures hit a low on the day of $4.54, a level unseen since November 2003, before settling at $4.57, down 8.8 cents.