Repeat

FERC Thursday opened for public comment a proposal on how to improve coordination between the natural gas and electricity industries to avoid a repeat of the severe gas service outage that curtailed service to thousands of customers in the Southwest last winter.

FERC Thursday issued a proposed rule seeking public comment on how to improve the coordination between the natural gas and electricity industries to avoid a repeat of the severe gas service outage that curtailed service to thousands of customers in the Southwest last winter.

Market bulls were hoping for a repeat of last week’s market performance when a surprise 56 Bcf withdrawal figure from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) was about 10 Bcf greater than anticipated and April futures subsequently jumped 22 cents to close over $4 and begin the current trend higher. Bulls were not quite so lucky this week. The EIA reported a 6 Bcf withdrawal for the week ended March 18, which was right in line with traders’ expectations and prices slumped. At the close April futures were 9.1 cents lower at $4.244 and May dropped 8.5 cents to $4.327. May crude oil eased 15 cents to $105.60/bbl.

Talisman Energy Inc. temporarily shut down all hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations in North America while it investigated a well control incident that occurred Jan. 17 at a Talisman natural gas well on state forest land in Tioga County, PA, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) said Tuesday. DEP is conducting a separate investigation of the incident.

Potential Gulf storm, heat in southern U.S. slightly outweigh negative screen guidance.

Thursday’s cash market was a near-repeat of the one a day earlier. Flat to modestly higher numbers again dominated at eastern points, while most of the moderate softness remained concentrated in the West.

With the Wall Street bailout bill failing at the House of Representatives level at midday Monday, worries over a potential repeat of the Great Depression translated into energy demand reduction signals for many traders as energy futures crashed on the day, led by a 10% drop in near-month crude futures.

The value of upstream global mergers and transactions hit a record in 2007 — but don’t expect a repeat in 2008 with current oil and natural gas prices, according to an analysis prepared by John S. Herold Inc. and Harrison Lovegrove & Co. Ltd.

The value of upstream global mergers and transactions hit a record in 2007 — but don’t expect a repeat in 2008 with current oil and natural gas prices, according to an analysis prepared by John S. Herold Inc. and Harrison Lovegrove & Co. Ltd.