Opinions

The oil and natural gas industry is carrying out a media blitz to educate policymakers and the general public about the market at a time when opinions of the industry are at their lowest level due to high gasoline and natural gas prices.

Over nine weeks, the government has built a case against Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay and ex-CEO Jeffrey Skilling brick-by-brick, with more than 20 witnesses claiming the men not only knew about the problems at the company but also took an active part in deceiving shareholders, Wall Street and the media about its true financial condition. On Monday, the defense teams will attempt to chip away at the testimony piece by piece.

The Constitution “explicitly” gives the president the discretion to obtain opinions and information of a confidential nature from subordinates and outside advisers without having to face the prospect of public disclosure, a Bush administration attorney argued before the Supreme Court Tuesday.

Responding to two court opinions that said FERC had over-stepped its jurisdiction, the Commission last Wednesday rolled back a four-year-old decision in which it exerted authority under the lighter-handed Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) to impose uniform reporting requirements on all natural gas pipelines operating on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).

Responding to two court opinions that said FERC had over-stepped its jurisdiction, the Commission on Wednesday rolled back a four-year-old decision in which it exerted authority under the lighter-handed Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) to impose uniform reporting requirements on all natural gas pipelines operating on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).

Despite indications — such as high gas prices and some analysts’ opinions — that gas supply is getting extremely short approaching the winter heating season, the American Gas Association (AGA) on Tuesday assured the nation that taken together supply fundamentals, including reserves, storage, imports and pipeline capacity, “look solid” and will be “adequate to meet customers’ needs” this winter.

Despite indications — such as $4 gas prices and some analysts’ opinions — that gas supply is getting extremely short approaching the winter heating season, the American Gas Association (AGA) on Tuesday assured the nation that taken together supply fundamentals, including reserves, storage, imports and pipeline capacity, “look solid” and will be “adequate to meet customers’ needs” this winter.

After rallying to new 15-month highs Monday on renewed hurricane-hype, natural gas futures reversed lower Tuesday on reports from the National Hurricane Center that Isidore will only be able to reach category 1 hurricane status when it slams into the central Gulf Coast late Wednesday or Thursday. That selling was enough to pressure the October contract down to a new one-week low at $3.71. The prompt month closed a few pennies above that level at $3.742, down 23.6 cents for the session.

Buoyed by hot weather and spiking Northeast physical prices, natural gas futures ended higher Tuesday, as commercial traders continued to favor the long side of the market. After touching the $3.00 mark Tuesday afternoon for the first time since Aug. 1, the September contract ebbed slightly to close at $2.975, a 1-cent increase for the session. With 102,854 contracts changing hands, Tuesday’s heavy volume in the gas pit lent credibility to the up-move.