Received

Australian producer BHP Billiton received the first permit from the Bureau of Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEM) to drill in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico since the moratorium was lifted in mid-October, analysts for Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. Securities Inc. (TPH) said last Wednesday. But it’s not a sign that more deepwater permits are immediately around the corner, cautioned FBR Capital Markets.

But it’s not a sign that more deepwater permitting is immediately around the corner, says FBR Capital Markets.

A C$5 billion integrated liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal, petrochemical complex and gas-fired cogeneration power plant in Goldboro, NS, received a favorable preliminary environmental review with a number of conditions last week. The Maple LNG project, formerly named Keltic LNG, which is sponsored by Netherlands-based Petroplus International and Russia’s Suntera Canada Ltd., would provide 1 Bcf/d of gas to the power plant and petrochemical complex being built by Keltic Petrochemicals.

Proponents of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal near the mouth of the Columbia River at Warrenton, OR, received a local land-use approval last Monday for a connecting transmission pipeline intended to link the terminal to interstate pipelines and the greater Portland, OR market. Oregon LNG CEO Peter Hansen called the Clatsop County decision critical for the LNG project.

Proponents of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal near the mouth of the Columbia River at Warrenton, OR, received a local land-use approval Monday for a connecting transmission pipeline intended to link the terminal to interstate pipelines and the greater Portland, OR market. Oregon LNG CEO Peter Hansen called the Clatsop County decision critical for the LNG project.

Natural gas futures received a temporary boost on Thursday morning after the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that only 27 Bcf was injected into underground stores for the week ending Aug. 13. The bullish momentum was unsustainable as the September contract later made a new low for the move before closing at $4.171, down 6.8 cents from Wednesday’s finish.

Public Service Electric and Gas Co. (PSE&G) on Friday received approval from New Jersey regulators to increase natural gas delivery base rates by 0.9%. The company in turn agreed to lower residential gas supply charges by about 5%, which it said would result in an immediate 4% overall bill decrease for typical residential customers.

A natural gas market eager to see whether last week’s breakout to the upside was warranted or a bout of overzealous exuberance received confirmation of the former on Monday as the July natural gas futures contract tested resistance at $5 for a second consecutive session before closing out the day at $4.916, up 11.9 cents from Friday’s regular session finish.

MoBay Storage Hub LLC, an affiliate of Falcon Gas Storage Co. Inc., received an order from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which amended a 2006 certificate, to increase the total capacity of its storage facilities in South Mobile Bay County, AL, by 3.70 Bcf to 86.74 Bcf, of which 59.61 Bcf will be working capacity [CP06-398]. MoBay proposes to install nine injection and withdrawal wells in addition to the 21 wells that already exist. Two of the wells will be installed at new offshore locations and seven at previously approved well caisson structure locations, the order said. All of the new wells will be within the North Dauphin Island storage reservoir. FERC also approved MoBay’s request for market-based rate approval for firm and interruptible storage, hub and wheeling services.