Revving

With the start of the 2008-2009 winter heating season less than a week away, new storage and pipelines facilities are revving up to serve markets in the Northeast, Pacific Northwest, Southeast and South. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has given the go-ahead to place in service a pipeline expansion in Florida, storage-related pipeline facilities in Louisiana and a storage withdrawal expansion in the Pacific Northwest, and is mulling over requests for a Nov. 1 start-up of a new storage cavern along the Gulf Coast and pipeline expansion facilities to serve the Long Island and New York markets.

North American producers continued to herald record profits in the second quarter last week, but the story continues to be the natural gas growth by U.S.-based independents. Many of the largest independents, including Devon Energy Corp., Pioneer Natural Resources, EOG, Magnum Hunter Resources, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and Houston Exploration showed strong gas gains, while Vintage Petroleum Inc.’s 2Q gas numbers were slightly down because of asset sales. Unocal Corp., the final U.S.-based major to report, saw its production numbers drastically down.