Pressed

An Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official told a Senate panel earlier this week that the agency is committed to cooperating with states to oversee the practice of hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

After the rally stalled on Monday as traders instead tested downside support, natural gas futures bulls on Tuesday once again pressed the upside, scoring a 14.7-cent gain to close the day’s regular session at $4.449. Commodities on the whole showed impressive strength with June crude futures picking up 35 cents to close at $58.85/bbl.

While the Bush administration Monday pressed Capitol Hill leaders to move quickly and pass the $700 billion rescue plan for the financial markets, Democrats said they weren’t about to hand over a blank check with no strings attached. Any bailout could have ramifications on the already skittish energy markets.

MGM Energy Corp. pressed forward on its goal to tap the Mackenzie Valley’s natural gas resources following an agreement with EnCana Corp. to buy its stakes in the Umiak discovery and other Northwest Territories assets for C$170 million (US$154 million). The Umiak discovery is 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) from Imperial Oil’s Taglu field, one of the anchor fields for the proposed Mackenzie Gas Project.

MGM Energy Corp. pressed forward on its goal to tap the Mackenzie Valley’s natural gas resources following an agreement with EnCana Corp. to buy its stakes in the Umiak discovery and other Northwest Territories assets for C$170 million (US$154 million). The Umiak discovery is 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) from Imperial Oil’s Taglu field, one of the anchor fields for the proposed Mackenzie Gas Project.

Traders were hard-pressed to come up with any substantive explanation for why cash prices staged modest rallies at most points Wednesday. There was no prior-day screen strength at which to point, and other than a warming trend in the South (destined to be brief) and colder temperatures in Western Canada and the northwestern quadrant of the U.S., the weather outlook failed to provide any rationale for higher quotes.

The cash market was able to sustain mostly moderate price increases through a second day Thursday, but may be hard pressed to score a hat trick Friday after major retreats in Nymex’s energy futures complex. The gas screen fell nearly 20 cents in response to a government report showing that net storage refills were already under way last week.

Financial analysts on Wednesday pressed Duke Energy CEO Paul M. Anderson about when Moss Bluff’s two undamaged salt cavern storage facilities in Liberty County, TX, would re-open, but he declined to provide a timeline.

FERC Chairman Pat Wood last Wednesday was pressed by U.S. lawmakers to explain why FERC’s sweeping standard market design (SMD) proposal for U.S. wholesale power markets is needed given that many of the representatives’ states already have low power rates and reliable sources of electricity.