Reaction

Early reaction to the Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission’s (MSAC) final report is mixed, with environmental groups praising some recommendations while criticizing omissions, industry promising cooperation and lawmakers offering a skeptical shrug.

Early reaction to the Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission’s (MSAC) final report is mixed, with environmental groups praising some recommendations while criticizing omissions, industry promising cooperation and lawmakers offering a skeptical shrug.

Power generation developers may be taking new looks at added natural gas- and coal-fired plants as an outgrowth of the reaction to the continuing disaster unfolding at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear generating plant, according to the CEO of NRG Energy Inc.

Industry reaction to Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Ray LaHood’s call Monday for more attention to pipeline safety was swift, indicating that the emphasis on pipeline integrity management promises to grow following several pipeline incidents in the past six months. The industry basically has been on its toes since the Sept. 9 pipeline rupture in San Bruno, CA.

Capitol Hill reaction to President Obama’s blueprint for securing the nation’s future energy supplies has run the gamut from supportive to skeptical about whether his targeted goal to reduce foreign imports can be met. Republicans said there is a wide disconnect between what Obama said Wednesday and his anti-drilling policies.

Congressional lawmakers were far from united in their reaction to the findings and recommendations in the final report of the presidential commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon rig disaster, which was released Tuesday.

Activity in the Marcellus Shale hasn’t declined even in the face of weak natural gas prices, a Williams Cos. executive said Thursday.

Recording their second consecutive volatile reaction to a natural gas storage report (see Daily GPI, April 3), May natural gas futures on Thursday morning traded violently up and down surrounding the news that 20 Bcf was injected into underground inventories for the week ending April 3. Following the two-minute mayhem, the prompt-month contract resolved lower before closing the session at $3.610, down only two pennies from Wednesday’s finish but 19.1 cents lower than the previous week’s finish.

With global wholesale natural gas prices decidedly volatile but much lower since mid-year, the reaction among a trio of western utilities is just as volatile. Portland, OR-based Northwest Natural Gas Co. has costs going down and retail rates up; Spokane, WA-based Avista Utilities has lowered even further a previously filed decrease; and Xcel Energy’s Texas utility is lowering rates only until after the first of the new year.