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The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is expected to vote Thursday on whether to send the nomination of Sally Jewell for Interior secretary to the full Senate for consideration.

Surging winter cold and constrained pipeline throughput throughout the Northeast teamed up this week to send northeastern natural gas cash prices into the stratosphere, and if projections from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) hold up, there may be no relief until the middle of next week.

Another hot summer, combined with a continued move by power generators to switch to natural gas, has reduced the big storage overhang and should send natural gas prices higher, according to Goldman Sachs.

Overall cash prices added a dime Monday as weather forecasts, pipeline maintenance and a strong screen combined forces to send prices sharply higher. Northeast points led the charge higher, but Southern California locations were not far behind. At the close of futures trading July had jumped 16.8 cents to $2.635 and August had risen 15.4 cents to $2.565. July crude oil fell 76 cents to $83.27/bbl.

In an attempt to bring uniformity to the exploration and production of oil and natural gas in the shale plays of the Appalachian Basin, a consortium of 11 producers Tuesday released recommended standards and practices on everything from the preparation of a regional spill and emergency response plan to the use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) fluids, as well as for local relations and well site selection.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. on Tuesday stripped co-founder and CEO Aubrey K. McClendon of his title as chairman of the board and said it would name an “independent, nonexecutive chairman in the near future.”

Sempra Energy’s Cameron LNG LLC has joined the ranks of liquefied natural gas (LNG) export proposals that have received authorization to send liquefied gas to the limited number of countries that are party to a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States.

Thursday’s price driver was the release of government inventory figures that came in only slightly bearish but were sufficient to send February futures nearly a dime lower.

Although a shale-produced natural gas surplus remains, it is at a lower level than many expected and thus a couple of drivers could send prices back into a period of volatility, according to Jim Duncan, chief analyst and commodity market strategist for ConocoPhillips in Houston.