Response

In response to collapses at Peregrine Financial Group Inc. (see Daily GPI, July 11) and MF Global Holdings Ltd. (see Daily GPI, Nov. 14, 2011), both of which involved the misappropriation of customer funds, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Monday voted out a proposed set of rules to provide a greater level of protection to customers that participate in the futures and swaps markets, including the protection of customer funds held by futures commission merchants (FCM) and derivatives clearing organizations.

Total U.S. marketed natural gas production remains at historically high levels but flattened during the first seven months of 2012, primarily in response to lower gas prices, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said last week.

Total U.S. marketed natural gas production remains at historically high levels but flattened during the first seven months of 2012, primarily in response to lower gas prices, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Monday.

FERC Monday said it is holding a technical conference in late September to discuss actions that industry has taken in response to an August 2011 report on the weather-driven power outages and natural gas curtailments in early 2011.

In response to the booming development in the Bakken Shale play, Kinder Morgan Interstate Gas Transmission LLC (KMIGT) is seeking FERC authorization to transfer a portion of its Pony Express natural gas pipeline to an affiliate to transport crude from the Bakken to key refinery centers.

Natural gas industry representatives were granted early access to New York’s preliminary unconventional drilling regulations up to six weeks before the rules were made public, the public health advocate Environmental Working Group (EWG) claimed on Thursday, citing documents obtained under a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

In response to major pipeline accidents in California and Pennsylvania that caused 22 deaths, the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) last week issued recommendations for natural gas pipelines to preserve and verify records related to maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) and advised hazardous liquid pipeline operators to adhere to the same standards for maximum operating pressure (MOP).

Talisman Energy Inc. is slashing dry gas spending again in response to chronically low prices, but the company continues to ramp up production from the liquids-rich shale plays in its portfolio.

Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead warned his state agencies to prepare for making 8% cuts in their budgets in response to a dwindling revenue stream due to inordinately low natural gas prices. The average expected gas prices since the new budget was calculated in January have plummeted to below $2/MMcf, compared to $3.25/MMcf.