Rapidly

Time is rapidly running out for the power sector to remove the remaining obstacles to sustainable competitive power markets in the U.S., the chairman of the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) warned audience members last Thursday at KEMA’s 17th executive forum on energy markets in Washington, DC.

While pleading limited resources and the need to determine who pays for helping needy customers this winter in the face of rapidly escalating natural gas prices, a Sempra Energy senior utility executive told state regulators that the company’s Southern California Gas utility is considering tapping up to 5 Bcf of its cushion gas supplies in its extensive underground storage system as a means of tempering expected high winter gas utility bills for qualifying low-income customers.

With Rita fast approaching Gulf of Mexico infrastructure, gas production shut-ins rising rapidly and many traders in transit, the cash market was extremely volatile and illiquid on Thursday. Trading appeared to completely dry up at many locations. Some Northeast averages were more than $5 away from others. Most western locations fell 25-60 cents.

Canada’s fledgling coalbed methane production is rapidly maturing into an industry force, with a new forecast by the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board projecting 25-fold growth over the next 10 years.

Shut-in natural gas production returned rapidly over the Labor Day weekend but progress stalled last week due to damaged processing plants, pipelines and production facilities. As of Friday, some of the more serious damage left by Katrina was on two of El Paso Corp.’s major pipeline systems — Tennessee Gas and Southern Natural, three large Louisiana gas processing plants (Venice, Toca and Yscloskey) and several of Shell’s deepwater platforms (Mars, Mensa, Cognac and Ursa).

As California’s largest natural gas producer with a big bet on domestic oil/gas supplies, Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum has turned the corner financially with rapidly rising profits and stock prices, making it one of the top names on the energy industry’s acquisition target lists, according to a profile in the Sunday business section of the Los Angeles Times. The price for the company is growing, with its 70-year-old CEO Ray Irani telling the LA Times it could reach $40 billion.

Oklahoma City-based Devon Energy, which has grown rapidly through acquisitions over the last several years to become the U.S.’ largest independent producer, announced a series of U.S. asset sales last week to a number of undisclosed buyers. The company sold about 88 MMboe of U.S. gas and oil reserves for $1.2 billion ($915 million after taxes) or about $13.64/boe.

Oklahoma City-based Devon Energy, which has grown rapidly through acquisitions over the last several years to become the U.S.’ largest independent producer, announced a series of U.S. asset sales Monday to a number of undisclosed buyers. The company sold about 88 MMboe of U.S. gas and oil reserves for $1.2 billion ($915 million after taxes) or about $13.64/boe.

About 30 major regulatory and environmental impediments to natural gas production have taken substantial amounts of supply off the market at a time of rapidly increasing gas demand, according to a new report titled “Environmental Policy and Regulatory Constraints to Natural Gas Production” by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory.