Ones

With one transaction, Chesapeake Midstream Partners LP (CHKM) has become the “biggest gathering system in the Marcellus Shale,” CEO J. Mike Stice said Thursday.

Prices were up at nearly all points Wednesday, and many of the gains tended to be a bit larger than the ones that were generally limited to 2-3 cents or so a day earlier.

Shale’s market eruption and regulatory responses to recent safety breaches have combined to put some strain on the U.S. natural gas pipeline industry’s usually staid credit ratings, according to a report released Tuesday by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P).

Thousands of landowners in New York state, who have received notice that their leases with gas companies are being unilaterally extended, have been given an added bonus: a French lesson.

U.S. safety and environmental concerns are spreading north across the border into Canada, where the National Energy Board (NEB) is stepping up scrutiny of natural gas and oil operations from exploration to transportation.

Wednesday’s rally in natural gas futures values differed from the ones on both Monday and Tuesday in that the September contract was able to hold on to most of the day’s gains. After reaching a high of $4.756, the prompt-month contract closed the regular session at $4.737, up 9.8 cents from Tuesday.

After ending a four-day systemwide Stage 2 high-inventory OFO Sunday, Pacific Gas and Electric issued new ones for Tuesday and Wednesday on its California Gas Transmission system, setting Wednesday’s tolerance for positive daily imbalances at 17%.

It was kind of a doldrums-type market Thursday, with flat quotes at many points and none of the other ones straying more than about a nickel up or down. Spotty returns of chillier weather in some areas, along with the previous day’s futures uptick of 4.3 cents, assured that small gains handily outweighed the rare small loss.

It was kind of a doldrums-type market Thursday, with flat quotes at many points and none of the other ones straying more than about a nickel up or down. Spotty returns of chillier weather in some areas, along with the previous day’s futures uptick of 4.3 cents, assured that small gains handily outweighed the rare small loss.