Story

Despite the U.S. having just experienced its fourth warmest December since records began in 1895 (see related story), AccuWeather chief long-range forecaster Joe Bastardi said the unseasonably warm winter to date in the United States is likely to “turn on a dime” this month. If his forecast proves true, natural gas and power prices could be jolted higher, as already evidenced by the natural gas futures market’s response to these cold front warnings.

In this tortoise and hare story, the tortoise spends years building an energy empire with pipelines and terminals, many part of a master limited partnership (MLP), that rewards investors handsomely. The hare sells most of his assets, some to the tortoise, and pins his hopes on becoming a savvy financial player in energy and other commodities.

Along with the much ballyhooed public offering by Nymex Holdings Inc. on Friday (see related story), utilities giant Constellation Energy Group Inc. (CEG) spun off its U.S.-based exploration and production (E&P) partnership last week to modest success. Tightly held midstream operator Targa Resources Inc. also announced plans for an offering next year of its considerable processing assets in North Texas.

In the story “Independence Project a Blueprint for Future Deepwater Exploration,” which appeared in Monday’s Daily Gas Price Index and in Natural Gas Intelligence, Enterprise Products Partners President and CEO Bob Phillips was mistakenly identified. NGI regrets the error.

Successful natural gas futures trading often depends on correctly determining what “story” the market is telling on a particular day, according to Sandy “Trot” Goldfarb, a 20-plus-year trading veteran. Speaking at NGI’s Natural Gas Futures Prices Workshop at the New York Mercantile Exchange last week, Trot said the plot of recent price movements indicates that there could be more room to the upside in this market.

In an Aug. 14 story titled “Rockies Producers Enjoy Rapid Pipeline Build-Out; 8.4 Bcf/d of Capacity Planned,” it was incorrectly stated that export capacity out of the Rockies would be nearly doubled in the next three years (see NGI, Aug. 14). Walter “Skip” Simmons of Wood Mackenzie told the Colorado Oil and Gas Association’s (COGA) annual Rocky Mountain Natural Gas Strategy Conference and Investment Forum in Denver that export capacity would grow to 12.4 Bcf/d. However, a slide showing current export capacity of 6.6 Bcf/d excluded the San Juan Basin. While export capacity will grow significantly through mainly the Rockies Express pipeline, it is intraregional capacity that will more than double, Simmons said. NGI regrets the error.

In an Aug. 11 story titled “Rockies Producers Enjoy Rapid Pipeline Build-Out; 8.4 Bcf/d of Capacity Planned,” it was incorrectly stated that export capacity out of the Rockies would be nearly doubled in the next three years (see Daily GPI, Aug. 11). Walter “Skip” Simmons of Wood Mackenzie told the Colorado Oil and Gas Association’s (COGA) annual Rocky Mountain Natural Gas Strategy Conference and Investment Forum in Denver that export capacity would grow to 12.4 Bcf/d. However, a slide showing current export capacity of 6.6 Bcf/d excluded the San Juan Basin. While export capacity will grow significantly through mainly the Rockies Express pipeline, it is intraregional capacity that will more than double, Simmons said. NGI regrets the error.

In a story in Daily GPI’s Tuesday edition titled “GE Energy Expands Energy Ventures, Adds KMI Retail Assets,” the full name of the entity involved in the transactions is GE Energy Financial Services. It was referred to as “GE Energy” after the first paragraph, which is incorrect.

As Tropical Storm Chris continued to weaken just north of Puerto Rico (see related story), the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season was dealt an additional blow Thursday morning as respected hurricane forecasters William Gray and Philip Klotzbach of the Colorado State University (CSU) hurricane forecast team issued a report reducing the number of storms expected in the basin this season.