Prospect

Spokane, WA-based Avista Corp. is sitting atop snowpack and water levels more than 150% of normal, setting up the prospect for abundant hydroelectric supplies and less-than-normal natural gas-fired electric generation for its combination utility Avista Utilities. As a result, revenues were up and fuel costs down for the first quarter, Avista reported in a quarterly earnings conference call last Friday.

Approval of Noble Energy Inc.’s plans to move forward with a bypass well in the Santiago prospect in Mississippi Canyon Block 519 was a good first step, but the Interior Department needs to grease the wheels of the permitting system for drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), Capitol Hill lawmakers said last week.

With the prospect for widespread shuttering of the oldest, most inefficient coal-fired power plants in the face of stiffer federal clean air requirements, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) said Friday it will close 18 coal-fired boilers, or 16% of its coal-based capacity, during the next five years. Shutdowns are to start next year.

The prospect for increased development of natural gas-fired peaking generation plants to back up added wind generation in the Pacific Northwest has prompted the need for added gas storage. An analysis is under way to determine whether existing underground storage or newly developed above-ground liquefied natural gas (LNG) is the best option for assuring power system reliability in the region.

Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead on Monday expressed concerns on Plains Exploration and Production Co.’s (PXP) master development plan for Eagle Prospect and Noble Basin, which calls for drilling 136 wells from 17 pads in the Bridger Teton National Forest. Mead sent a letter outlining his concerns to the supervisor for Bridger-Teton in the U.S. Forest Service (USFS).

Approval of Noble Energy’s plans to move forward with a bypass well in the Santiago prospect in Mississippi Canyon Block 519 was a good first step, but the Interior Department needs to grease the wheels of the permitting system for drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), members of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources told Interior Secretary Ken Salazar Wednesday.

Tradition Energy on Wednesday blamed “the poor prospect of economic growth in the second half of the year” in revising its natural gas price forecast for 2010 down to $4.85/Mcf from $5.25.

With the prospect of walking away with more than $2 billion, Sempra Energy now plans to sell its remaining interest in its joint venture (JV) energy trading business with the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), CEO Donald Felsinger said last Thursday. Absent a trading arm, Felsinger said Sempra most likely will build a new program internally around its existing businesses, particularly in the natural gas sector.

With the prospect of walking away with more than $2 billion, Sempra Energy now plans to sell its remaining interest in its joint venture (JV) energy trading business with the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), CEO Donald Felsinger said Thursday.