Ranging

In outlining Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s priorities for the country in the coming year, Canadian Governor General Michaelle Jean, in a wide-ranging speech, allowed that Kyoto Protocol emission reduction deadlines will be missed, and that Canada has every intention of defending its northern shores — and the mineral rights contained just off of them — from foreign interests.

Varying local weather conditions caused cash price movement to be mixed Tuesday, with most points ranging from flat to 15 cents or less up or down. Exceptions included Northeast citygates, which rose up to nearly 35 cents with a return of winter-like conditions there and in the Midwest forecast for Wednesday. But the really big gains came in the Rockies market, which rallied by triple-digit amounts from the plunges it had endured the day before.

Dominion Resources Inc. is considering a shake up of its wide-ranging business operations that may include a spin-off or sale of its profitable exploration and production (E&P) business and other nonstrategic assets next year. The company plans to refocus on its utility operations, CEO Tom Farrell said Tuesday.

Of 55-56 producers ranging from Amerada Hess to Woodside Energy that still hold royalty-free deepwater oil and natural gas leases, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) is actively renegotiating with 10 producers to correct the oversight that is costing the federal government billions of dollars, the head of the MMS told the House Government Reform Committee Thursday.

Dominion Resources Inc. is considering a shake up of its wide-ranging business operations that may include a spin-off or sale of its profitable exploration and production (E&P) business and some nonstrategic assets next year. The move, said CEO Tom Farrell last week, will allow the company to refocus on its utility operations.

Prices at a few scattered locations were flat to slightly lower Tuesday, but most of the cash market recorded gains ranging from a little less than a nickel to a quarter; most were in double digits. The gains were attributed largely to continued demand for storage injections with the traditional injection season still less than two weeks old.

Prices were mixed in the East Friday, ranging from as much as about 15 cents lower to a little more than a dime higher. Many points were flat or close to it. Despite torrid weather continuing in much of the West, quotes fell from about a nickel to almost a quarter at nearly all point in that region. Only flat intra-Alberta and El Paso-Permian numbers and a rise of about a nickel at Waha diverged from the overall western softness.

This week’s two-day price rally ran out of gas (pun intended) Wednesday as prices retreated across the board by amounts ranging from a little less than a dime to about a quarter. The previous day’s natural gas futures drop of 7 cents, coupled with a plunge of nearly a dollar and a half in the May crude oil contract that day, were cited as the chief factor in the softness since fundamental weather-related demand is seeing little change.

A majority of the cash market Monday continued the price softness that had set in across the board for weekend numbers, with declines ranging from a couple of pennies to about 30 cents, although most were limited to single digits. Unseasonably mild temperatures dominated the weather picture in most of the East outside of the Upper Plains region near the Canadian border.