Purposes

Generally, conditions are not as cold as they will get later in the week, but prices found enough demand for heating purposes to record gains at a sizeable majority of points Monday. The restoration of industrial load following its usual weekend dip was an additional, albeit minor, price booster. Mixed price moves were dominated by flat to about 30 cents higher numbers, with all of the double-digit gains confined to the Rockies and Northeast.

British Columbia Premier Christy Clark said Thursday the province would launch an online registry for the public to keep track of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the province, part of a strategy to provide transparency of shale gas activities.

The Horn River Basin of British Columbia (BC) holds an “ultimate potential” of marketable unconventional natural gas shale of 78 Tcf, which “ranks among the most prospective shale gas basins in North America,” according to a new government energy market assessment.

Following Quebec’s announcement in early March that hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) would be limited for the next two years, British Columbia officials reassured the public this week that it was a safe practice and would continue in their province.

The government of Quebec announced last Tuesday that hydraulic fracturing could continue in the province for exploration purposes only, after the release of a much anticipated report that urged further study of the practice.

The government of Quebec announced Tuesday that hydraulic fracturing could continue in the province for exploration purposes only, after the release of a much anticipated report that urged further study of the practice.

El Paso Corp. Tuesday said it raised about $438 million in an offering of senior notes due Dec. 12, 2013. The proceeds will be used for general purposes, including repayment of debt due in 2009.

The Minerals Management Service (MMS) issued a final rule Thursday amending existing regulations for natural gas valuation for royalty purposes, increasing the rate of return used in valuing non-arm’s-length transportation from 1.0 to 1.3 times the Standard and Poor’s BBB Industrial Bond rate, and clarifying other parts of the transportation deduction from the sale price of gas. The final rule substantially followed the lines of the proposed rule for collection of royalties from federal lands issued last year (see NGI, July 26, 2004).

The Minerals Management Service (MMS) issued a final rule Thursday amending existing regulations for natural gas valuation for royalty purposes, increasing the rate of return used in valuing non-arm’s-length transportation from 1.0 to 1.3 times the Standard and Poor’s BBB Industrial Bond rate, and clarifying other parts of the transportation deduction from the sale price of gas. The final rule substantially followed the lines of the proposed rule for collection of royalties from federal lands issued last year (see Daily GPI, July 26, 2004).