Pretty

For a good while any chart of oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) activity in Texas looked pretty decent, with steadily increasing drilling, production and prices yielding mounting positive data. But it turned out that on the other side of the data mountain was a cliff from which the industry continues to plunge.

John Norris, chairman of the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) and a close friend of President-elect Obama, has a “pretty good shot” at becoming a FERC commissioner, if not the chairman “down the road,” Washington sources said last Tuesday.

John Norris, chairman of the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) and a close friend of President-elect Obama, has a “pretty good shot” at becoming a FERC commissioner, if not the chairman “down the road,” Washington sources said Tuesday.

Thursday’s cash market pretty much divided along the lines of what markets would be most affected by Hurricane Ike-related production outages and those that would feel relatively little impact. Prices continued to rise at most locations in the Gulf Coast and Northeast, while the Midcontinent/Midwest and West were mostly softer. Weather remains a minor market factor as few areas outside the desert Southwest have any substantive cooling load remaining.

In a move that pretty much eliminates its potential as a direct buyer of future liquefied natural gas (LNG) should it show up in California, the City of Long Beach’s municipal gas utility closed a 30-year pre-pay supply deal last Thursday that will satisfy 80-90% of its 12-13 Bcf annual load with terms that will keep its retail rates below the surrounding Sempra Energy utilities for the next three decades, according to its general manager.

The Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Short-Term Energy Outlook for July pretty much mirrors its June outlook, with the agency projecting an annual increase of 4.3% in natural gas consumption and nearly flat production. It expects average spot prices in the third quarter to be slightly more moderate than those in the second quarter due in part to an anticipated return of near-normal weather.

The Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Short-Term Energy Outlook for July pretty much mirrors its June outlook, with the agency projecting an annual increase of 4.3% in natural gas consumption and nearly flat production. It expects average spot prices in the third quarter to be slightly more moderate than those in the second quarter due in part to an anticipated return of near-normal weather.

In the first half of 2007 the price outlook for producers is pretty much the same as it was in the first half of 2006: wait for the second half of the year and beyond for gas price strength, at least according to analysts at Raymond James & Associates Inc.

In the first half of 2007 the price outlook for producers is pretty much the same as it was in the first half of 2006: wait for the second half of the year and beyond for gas price strength, at least according to analysts at Raymond James & Associates Inc.