Soaring

Soaring natural gas prices and a growing interest in fuel diversity for power generation is driving a major resurgence in plans to develop coal-fired power plants, according to Scott Klara, deputy director for the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Coal and Power at DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL). The latest DOE statistics show about 129 proposed coal-fired power plants (77 GW) will be developed over the next 20 years, a $104 billion investment.

Soaring fuel prices, which slashed the value of unwinding energy trading contracts collapsed Williams’ 3Q earnings by 96%, the company reported Thursday. However, the Tulsa-based company raised its profit forecast for the year on the continued strong performances of its other three major business units: exploration and production (E&P), natural gas pipelines and midstream processing.

Soaring fuel prices, which slashed the value of unwinding energy trading contracts collapsed Williams’ 3Q earnings by 96%, the company reported Thursday. However, the Tulsa-based company raised its profit forecast for the year on the continued strong performances of its other three major business units: exploration and production (E&P), natural gas pipelines and midstream processing.

Most of the majors and several of the largest independents all reported soaring second quarter profits — as expected — last week. However, North American natural gas production continued to be a mixed bag, with few surprises.

ExxonMobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell plc and Marathon Oil Co., along with independents Apache Corp. and EnCana Corp. all reported soaring second quarter profits as expected on Thursday. However, North American gas production continued to be a mixed bag, with a few surprises.

Soaring gas prices prompted U.S. gas utilities to use more aggressive hedging strategies and sign longer term agreements ahead of winter last year to mitigate the impact of rising prices on consumers, according to a new report by the American Gas Association (AGA).

Power grids in California, Nevada and Arizona last week fended off soaring temperatures and a resulting flood of demand for electricity. Power providers in Nevada and Arizona were reporting new records for system peaks, while the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) declared restricted maintenance days for power facilities and asked Californians to reduce energy usage.

Prices continued to rise at nearly all eastern points Tuesday, although by considerably smaller amounts than the soaring numbers seen the day before. However, a few touches of flatness were surfacing in the East, and a couple of Midcontinent pipes recorded drops of about a nickel.

Comparing the surprise Americans felt from the terrorist attacks of 9/11 to the surprise Americans will feel from soaring energy prices, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) said last week that his stand-alone natural gas legislation is aimed at bringing energy prices down and alleviating foreign energy reliance.