Shaky

Sparked by roaring crude prices, shaky fundamentals and summer heat and storm uncertainty, August natural gas futures jumped 15.5 cents on Monday to close at $13.353/MMBtu, a new high close for the up move.

The lack of adequate transmission infrastructure and a policy environment that has a stop-and-start quality to it, including the federal wind power production tax credit (PTC) that was recently extended through December 2005, are key hurdles to the further development of wind power in the U.S., participants at a FERC-sponsored technical conference said last week.

ExxonMobil Corp’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal planned for Mobile Bay, AL, which was on shaky ground from the start due to intense local opposition, bit the dust Thursday.

ExxonMobil Corp’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal planned for Mobile Bay, AL, which was on shaky ground from the start due to intense local opposition, bit the dust Thursday.

ExxonMobil Corp’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal planned for Mobile Bay, AL, which was on shaky ground from the start due to intense local opposition, bit the dust Thursday.

Southern Co. has taken steps to shield itself in the event that financially shaky Dynegy Inc. defaults under power supply contracts it has entered into with Southern, Gale Klappa, the electric utility’s chief financial officer, told a gathering of investment professionals last Wednesday.

Dynegy Corp. executives have to be scratching their heads at what it’s going to take to restore investor confidence. The Houston-based energy trader by all accounts had a stellar week: a bold restructuring plan to shed non-core assets, sale of 25 million shares of its stock, winning the first legal round in battle with Enron Corp., and an expanded multi-year natural gas marketing agreement with ChevronTexaco.

Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) filed the House comprehensive energy bill, H.R. 4, on the Senate floor Wednesday to become an amendment to the Democratic economic-stimulus package that was under consideration. That was the good news.

The near-term risk of more natural gas price erosion due to mild temperatures, high storage levels, the economic downturn and higher production levels across the nation led top industry analysts with Salomon Smith Barney (SSB), Lehman Brothers, ABN-AMRO, Simmons & Co. International, and Merrill Lynch to downgrade their 2002 stock price forecasts for several U.S. exploration and production (E&P) companies last week. Many of the same analysts also decided yet again to lower their respective 2001 and 2002 natural gas wholesale price outlooks.