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Near-record oil prices sustained the bottom line for most of the majors in 2Q2007, but the profits didn’t translate into gains on the production side, with none of the majors showing natural gas production gains in North America.

A set of private investors has formed a Vancouver, WA-based company to pursue a liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal at the mouth of the Columbia River on the Oregon side near Warrenton. Oregon LNG last January obtained the management and development rights for Chapter 11-bound Calpine Corp.’s Skipanon project.

Attempting to take some of the risk out of long-dated trading so companies don’t lose the shirt off their back from being on the wrong side of the market, IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (ICE) announced last week that it has recently expanded its ICE Data Market Price Validation (MPV) service to include more products and data points. Also last week, ICE signed a definitive agreement to acquire Houston-based ChemConnect Inc.’s commodity trading business.

Attempting to take some of the risk out of long-dated trading so companies don’t lose the shirt off their back from being on the wrong side of the market, IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (ICE) announced Wednesday that it has recently expanded its ICE Data Market Price Validation (MPV) service to include more products and data points.

Seven months after Amaranth was caught on the wrong side of the natural gas market with devastating effect, history has been repeated, although on a smaller scale, as the Bank of Montreal reported Friday that it has lost between C$350 million and C$450 million (US$313.70 million to US$403.33 million) in similar wrong-way trades in natural gas, specifically “out-of-the-money options.” The bank also warned investors that more related losses could be coming, but that they would be “substantially lower” than the losses announced Friday.

The New York bulk electricity grid will have adequate resources — in the form of in-state generation, imported energy and capacity and demand-side resources — to meet forecasted summer demand for 2007, according to the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO). However, the grid operator expressed concerns about its overwhelming reliance on natural gas as a fuel source.

The New York bulk electricity grid will have adequate resources — in the form of in-state generation, imported energy and capacity and demand-side resources — to meet forecasted summer demand for 2007, according to the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO). However, the grid operator expressed concerns about its overwhelming reliance on natural gas as a fuel source.

Seven months after Amaranth was caught on the wrong side of the natural gas market with devastating effect, history has been repeated, although on a smaller scale, as the Bank of Montreal reported Friday that it has lost between C$350 million and C$450 million (US$313.70 million to US$403.33 million) in similar wrong-way trades in natural gas, specifically “out-of-the-money options.” The bank also warned investors that more related losses could be coming, but that they would be “substantially lower” than the losses announced Friday.

Coming in on the high side of most industry estimates, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) confirmed Thursday morning that the nation’s gas storage system did in fact return to withdrawals during the second week of April, removing 46 Bcf from underground stores due to a surprise cold snap in the East. However, it appeared that the number was already largely factored into the market as May natural gas futures traded a slim 13.5-cent range on the day before settling at $7.492, half of a penny lower than Wednesday’s close.