Realistic

Hitting a $6/Mcf natural gas price after 2016 is “achievable,” but in four years a $5 gas price now appears more realistic, according to energy analysts with Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. (TPH).

Hitting a $6/Mcf natural gas price after 2016 is “achievable,” but in four years a $5 gas price now appears more realistic, according to energy analysts with Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. (TPH).

Two graduate students at The Ohio State University say their state’s policymakers should levy appropriate taxes on the oil and gas industry, be wary of hidden shale extraction costs and commit to good governance if they want to avoid the perils of boom-and-bust cycles common to other regions of the country rich in natural resources.

Natural gas industry stakeholders are turning up the volume on the clean transportation market as an increasingly realistic outlet for the gusher of gas that is emerging from North America’s burgeoning shale plays. This was made clear during the recent winter meetings of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) in Washington, DC.

The chances of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal breaking ground on the U.S. West Coast in 2010 or 2011 are more realistic than they were 12 months ago. Three projects in Oregon, two with conditioned FERC approvals, are advancing amidst challenges from state and local sources.

The chances of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal breaking ground on the U.S. West Coast in 2010 or 2011 are more realistic than they were 12 months ago. Three projects in Oregon, two with conditioned FERC approvals, are advancing amidst challenges from state and local sources.

It could take up to $2 billion and the next six years, but engineers at Southern California Edison Co. (SCE) think it is realistic to hope that a consortium by 2015 can turn petroleum refinery waste into an integrated gas combined-cycle (IGCC) power plant with carbon capture storage in nearby oil fields. But SCE’s project manager, Mark Nelson, told NGI the first step is to complete a feasibility study.

Anyone who hopes to site a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on the West Coast should be realistic about the time and effort it may take, a FERC commissioner and a regional expert said in separate presentations last week in San Francisco.

Energy independence is “not realistic for the United States or almost any other country,” and it may not be the best strategy to pursue, ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson said last week.