Pressing

With the Marcellus Shale as its guide, exploration and production (E&P) companies are pressing Quebec officials to give them some running room to develop the Utica Shale, a deep gassy play that extends across the St. Lawrence Lowlands and into the Lower 48 states.

With the Marcellus Shale as its guide, exploration and production (E&P) companies are pressing Quebec officials to give them some running room to develop the Utica Shale, a deep gassy play that extends across the St. Lawrence Lowlands and into the Lower 48 states.

With crude oil now topping $115/bbl and natural gas prices pressing $11/Mcf, U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) and 19 Republican cosponsors are backing legislation to dramatically increase domestic production of oil and natural gas through the unlocking of restricted territories for exploration.

With crude oil now topping $115/bbl and natural gas prices pressing $11/Mcf, U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) and 19 Republican cosponsors are backing legislation to dramatically increase domestic production of oil and natural gas through the unlocking of restricted territories for exploration.

Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) and House Democrats are pressing the Bush administration and Congress to extend renewable energy tax credits in the economic stimulus package that is currently being considered. The effort could gain more steam on Capitol Hill because, by including the energy tax credits in the stimulus plan, it would rule out the need to “pay for” the measure with offsetting tax hikes on the traditional oil and natural gas industries.

While Tropical Storm Dean is expected to become the first hurricane of the Atlantic storm season later in the week, the more pressing news is that Tropical Depression 5 strengthened into Tropical Storm Erin on Wednesday morning. Erin, which has an outside chance of reaching hurricane strength, is expected to make landfall on the South Texas coast by Thursday morning.

Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) is pressing the Minerals Management Service (MMS) for an updated inventory of the natural gas and oil resource that currently is inaccessible because of leasing moratoria on part of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). However, a Domenici aide conceded that Republicans face an uphill battle getting any bill through Congress this year that would open up more of the OCS to oil and gas drilling.

Resource adequacy is the most pressing issue facing the power industry today, a top official with Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) said last Wednesday. There is a trend toward the issuance of request for proposals (RFP) to meet this challenge, but solicitations for capacity with long-term and short-term contracts are not necessarily silver bullets, CERA found.

With more pressing issues facing traders on Thursday, the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) natural gas storage report of a 74 Bcf injection for the week ended Sept. 16 came and went with little fanfare. After hitting a high of $13.15 in morning trade on Hurricane Rita fears, October natural gas futures went on to settle at $12.79, or about 19.6 cents higher than Wednesday and a new all-time record high settle for a prompt month.