Passage

Reported growing opposition by House Democrats to controversial climate change legislation isn’t likely to jeopardize passage by the full House later this month, a spokesman for ConocoPhillips said Thursday.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) last week applauded the Florida House of Representatives’ quick passage of a bill that would set the stage for oil and natural gas drilling in state waters. But the victory was short-lived as Senate officials said they had no intention of addressing the measure in the remaining few days of the legislative session.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) applauded the Florida House of Representatives’ quick passage of a bill that would set the stage for oil and natural gas drilling in state waters. But the victory was short-lived as Senate officials said they had no intention of addressing the measure in the remaining few days of the legislative session.

Mindful of in-state natural gas needs, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) Thursday introduced legislation designed to streamline development of an in-state natural gas pipeline in Alaska by allowing its passage through a national park.

Northeast citygates saw big losses Tuesday following passage of the worst of the winter storm that has been ravaging the Eastern Seaboard in recent days, but prices were still rising in most of the rest of the market. Despite warming trends due to continue Wednesday from the Midwest through the Midcontinent and South, apparently enough heating load remained in the forecast to keep a majority of points firm.

Prices fell at most points Monday as the industry began picking up the pieces after the passage of Hurricane Ike. Notwithstanding major power outages in coastal areas of southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana and continuing massive shut-ins of offshore production, “it could have been worse” seemed to be the most common perception.

As offshore interests continued resuming normal operations in the Western and Central Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Wednesday following the passage of Tropical Storm Edouard, the cash market reflected the neutral guidance of a flat screen the day before. Mixed price movement was mostly close to flat, with gains outnumbering losses.

With Gulf of Mexico (GOM) production rising again following the passage of Hurricane Dolly and cooling load remaining generally light outside the southern half of the U.S., prices continued to fall Thursday at nearly all points. The Northeast and Midwest are experiencing warming trends but only to seasonable temperatures with highs mostly in the mid 80s.

Two of the most significant energy-related legislative actions to occur during 2007 came late in the year — congressional passage of a slimmed-down energy bill (HR 6) and the start of debate in the Senate on climate change legislation.