Scale

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) continued to scale back its projections of natural gas consumption and boosted its forecast for coal demand in its latest Annual Energy Outlook (AEO) for 2007. The agency is now expecting annual U.S. gas consumption to reach only 26.1 Tcf by 2030, which is way down from expectations a few years ago of more than 30 Tcf.

High commodity prices, strong balance sheets and a lack of large-scale organic growth opportunities led to several huge consolidation deals within the U.S. energy sector in the past year, but comparatively fewer transactions were announced by its neighbor to the north. That could be about to change, UBS energy analysts said last week.

High commodity prices, strong balance sheets and a lack of large-scale organic growth opportunities led to several huge consolidation deals within the U.S. energy sector in the past year, but its neighbor to the north has been relatively quiet. That could be about to change, UBS energy analysts said in a new report.

A large-scale antiterror drill will be carried out in New England about a week after the five-year anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, with the Distrigas of Massachusetts’ liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Everett, MA, playing a secondary role.

A large-scale antiterror drill will be carried out in New England about a week after the five-year anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, with the Distrigas of Massachusetts’ liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Everett, MA, playing a secondary role.

A security tape showing two people cutting a fence to scale a storage tank at KeySpan Corp’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage facility in Lynn, MA, last week has sparked a number of investigations at the local and state level, even though the incident appears to be an act of vandalism rather than terrorism, a company spokeswoman said.

Senate legislation (S. 2314) that seeks to scale back royalty relief for oil and natural gas producers in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) would trigger an increase in the amount oil and gas royalties paid to the federal government, but it also would result in a drop-off in bonus bid revenues flowing into the U.S. Treasury, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Consequently, net receipts to the federal government from offshore leasing might not rise in the long run and even could fall over the next five years, it said.

While near-month futures spiked to an all-time high Tuesday of $14.338 and the 2006 strip stands at $11.93, two analysts predict the gas market will scale back down by about 33% next year to range between $7.15 and $8/Mcf after the hurricane recovery is complete. They said prices should remain just above $6 over the long term.

Electric, gas, pipeline and water utilities finally can rest a little easier after a significant decrease in the pace and scale of negative rating activity by credit rating agencies in 2004, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) said in a new report titled “U.S. Utility Downside Rating Actions Moderated Significantly in 2004.”