Particularly

With heating load starting to increase again, particularly in the Midwest, the market saw double-digit gains across the board Wednesday. Although the screen helped support cash numbers by being in positive territory during morning trading, its eventual fall of 4.8 cents made the natural gas futures contract eight for eight (trading days) in extending its declines over the past week and a half.

Even though local and state regulatory attitudes are positive — particularly compared to California — liquefied natural gas (LNG) development for the Pacific Northwest may not be able to compete against renewable and conservation alternatives, along with new western onshore natural gas supplies, according to speakers at a western energy conference Thursday.

In a world of accelerating decline rates, depleting reserves and LNG uncertainty, unconventional gas plays in the Lower 48 are something to be excited about. This is particularly true of the burgeoning Barnett Shale play in the Forth Worth basin of north-central Texas.

California’s energy future is balanced precariously between runaway costs and the threat of severe shortages, particularly in a “hotter-than-average” summer, according to the California Energy Commission’s (CEC) draft 2005 “Integrated Energy Policy Report,” released last Friday. Touching on everything from global climate change to the cost of gasoline and growing reliance on natural gas, the 157-page report delivers a sobering message for Californians.

Saying it has experienced declining linepack as a result of customer takes that exceeded their scheduled receipt volumes, particularly on its southern system, El Paso declared a Strained Operating Condition (SOC) with an imbalance threshold of 4% Tuesday. The Washington Ranch Storage facility has been operating at maximum withdrawal capacity recently and linepack continues to drop, the pipeline said. It added that the SOC applies to the smallest possible area of its system and includes the following parties with takes on the South Mainline: Arizona Public Service, Salt River Project, Duke Energy Arlington Valley and El Paso Electric (not affiliated with the pipeline). In an earlier posting Tuesday warning of the SOC possibility, El Paso urged shippers to match their demand requirements with current supplies and to schedule payback of existing imbalances to the pipeline, if possible. It also said shippers can obtain supplies at Waha where capacity is operationally available, and that limited amounts of capacity may be available at the Keystone pool and from San Juan Basin.

The U.S. Atlantic Basin could be in for a particularly active hurricane season, according to Colorado State University’s heavily anticipated hurricane forecast, which was released on Friday. The new forecast predicts the season will be worse than previously forecasted.

The U.S. Atlantic Basin could be in for a particularly active hurricane season, according to Colorado State University’s heavily anticipated hurricane forecast, which was released on Friday. The new forecast predicts the season will be worse than previously forecasted.

It pays to know the territory, particularly if you’re an oil and gas driller in competition with Kentucky coal miners. NGAS Resources Inc., based in Lexington, KY, made its 20 years of experience in eastern Kentucky pay off in 2004, increasing total production by 77%, revenues by 75% and most importantly, completing an acquisition that helped bump up oil and gas assets by 316% to a value of $68.2 million from $16.4 million in 2003.

It pays to know the territory, particularly if you’re an oil and gas driller in competition with Kentucky coal miners. NGAS Resources Inc., based in Lexington, KY, made its 20 years of experience in eastern Kentucky pay off in 2004, increasing total production by 77%, revenues by 75% and most importantly, completing an acquisition that helped bump up oil and gas assets by 316% to a value of $68.2 million from $16.4 million in 2003.