Signaled

It was no mirage that the smaller gains and growth of larger losses in Wednesday’s pricing signaled weakening of this week’s rebound (see Daily GPI, April 14). Only a few scattered instances of flat numbers were left out of an overall downturn in the spot market Thursday. The chillier weather that had sparked a rally at most points from Monday through Wednesday had faded enough to lose its price-boosting ability, and the southern third of the U.S. is not yet hot enough to create compensating power generation demand.

The head of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEM) signaled Monday that more drilling permits in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) may be in the offing in the near term.

Canadian industry interest in arctic drilling is warming up in the regulatory thaw signaled by the National Energy Board (NEB) with its December approval of the Mackenzie Gas Project (see related story), but the rigs will remain frozen out of offshore prospects until further notice.

Canadian industry interest in arctic drilling is warming up in the regulatory thaw signaled by the National Energy Board (NEB) with its December approval of the Mackenzie Gas Project, but the rigs will remain frozen out of offshore prospects until further notice.

The Department of Interior, which is weighing new chemical disclosure rules for drillers operating on public lands, last week signaled support for the natural gas industry’s shale boom, which has been “stimulated” by hydraulic fracturing (fracking) technology.

Although there was similar optimism two weeks earlier, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) signaled Thursday it expects a settlement on “nearly all issues” to be reached Friday in its billion-dollar general rate case. It is perhaps further verification that settlement talks are progressing positively.

In a billion-dollar case that promises to get more complicated in the wake of the San Bruno gas transmission pipeline explosion, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. signaled last Monday that a settlement may be near in its issue-laden general rate case at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).

In a billion-dollar case that promises to get more complicated in the wake of the San Bruno transmission pipeline explosion, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. signaled Monday that a settlement may be near in its issue-laden general rate case at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).

The Department of Justice (DOJ) last Monday signaled that it may file a lawsuit against BP plc and other companies for civil violations involving the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.