Solid

October gas futures gapped 10 cents to the upside at the opening bell Tuesday, leading some to believe a solid bounce would continue higher off Monday’s significant $5.440 low, the lowest a front month has traded in nearly two years. However, the front-month contract reversed course in morning trading and ended Tuesday down 9.6 cents at $5.574, just above a daily low of $5.560.

Cash prices soared Thursday in the Northeast and had another solid day of gains in nearly all other regions of the U.S. because of hot weather, strong power generation demand and continued help from the futures market despite the bearish 89 Bcf net weekly storage injection reported by the Energy Information Administration for last week.

The Florida House delegation has for the most part been solid in its opposition to any legislation that would expand oil and natural gas drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), but some Republicans are breaking away to express their support for an OCS bill that was voted out by the House Resources Committee Wednesday.

Continuing to unload noncore assets for solid profits in preparation for its liquefied natural gas (LNG), gas storage and pipeline projects coming to fruition in the next three years, Sempra Energy announced Monday it has agreed to sell its exploration and production subsidiary, Sempra Energy Production Co. (SEPCO) to PEC Minerals LP for approximately $225 million in cash. Sempra said it expects to close the deal next momth.

With a bullish long-term price deck of $70/bbl for crude oil and $10/Mcf for natural gas — and a 2% price inflator after 2007 — investors should expect “solid stock price performance” for the “entire energy complex,” including exploration and production (E&P) companies, said Raymond James in its latest “Stat of the Week.”

With a bullish long-term price deck of $70/bbl for crude oil and $10/Mcf for natural gas — and a 2% price inflator after 2007 — investors should expect “solid stock price performance” for the “entire energy complex,” including exploration and production (E&P) companies, said Raymond James’ energy analysts in their latest “Stat of the Week.”

Cash prices jumped above $8 again in the Northeast on Tuesday and most spot points nationwide posted solid gains for the second day in a row as colder weather and short-term forecasts of below normal temperatures across most of the nation put the massive gas storage surplus temporarily on the back burner.

The seemingly solid agreement among a mix of liberal/moderate Democrats and conservative/moderate Republicans on the newly configured five-member appointed California Public Utilities Commission last Thursday was jarred loose and split into a majority of market-based-solution advocates and a minority of command-and-control supporters over the creation of a telecommunications “Consumer Bill of Rights.” The measure was six years in the making and has gone through several iterations in the past 18 months.

With a solid contribution from the Patina Oil and Gas assets, Noble Energy Corp. reported its highest quarterly net income ever, with 3Q profit increasing 111% to $177 million (99 cents/share), compared with $83.7 million (70 cents) in 3Q2004. Daily production rose 61% worldwide, and domestic output also climbed, despite the impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.