Struggle

Canadian gas production was up 2.4%, or 300 MMcf/d, during the first quarter compared to first quarter 2001, according to statistics compiled by Lehman Brothers. However, Lehman analyst Thomas Driscoll said he expects production to decline between 1% and 6% over the remainder of the year based on historical trends, leaving year-end production up as much as 1% or down as much as 4%.

While American gas producers have bought into less picked-over pastures than their home United States with their Canadian acquisitions, they have joined a community that faces an increasingly uphill scramble to maintain its productivity. A signal that western Canada has turned a corner, from frontier prospecting days to mature exploitation of familiar territory, surfaced in evidence submitted to the National Energy Board by TransCanada PipeLines Ltd. to support its “fair-return” application for a financial overhaul and increased shipping tolls.

While American gas producers have bought into less picked-over pastures than their home United States with their Canadian acquisitions, they have joined a community that faces an increasingly uphill scramble to maintain its productivity. A signal that western Canada has turned a corner, from frontier prospecting days to mature exploitation of familiar territory, surfaced in evidence submitted to the National Energy Board by TransCanada PipeLines Ltd. to support its “fair-return” application for a financial overhaul and increased shipping tolls.

The struggle experienced by some electronic trading systems in the face of stiff competition from IntercontinentalExchange, EnronOnline, TradeSpark and other systems isn’t stopping E-lecTrade from launching its own power trading system this summer. The system is unique, however, in its effort to provide multiple structured power transaction types and risk management services real time and on an anonymous basis.

The energy industry continues to struggle to develop enough natural gas storage capacity to keep pace with the growing U.S. market, and several new gas storage facilities will have to be added each year just to keep up, according to North American gas storage executives.

The energy industry continues to struggle to develop enough natural gas storage capacity to keep pace with the growing U.S. market, and several new gas storage facilities will have to be added each year just to keep up, according to North American gas storage executives.

U.S. natural gas production and the nation’s vociferous demand could make it a little more dependent on imported gas if a recent long term forecast by a committee of the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) holds up. Natural gas demand is expected to increase to 30.7 Tcf by 2015, while U.S. production is only expected to get up to 24.8 Tcf over the same time period.

Utilities continue to struggle with high commodity prices as evidenced most recently on Friday when the Public Service Electric and Gas Co. (PSE&G) filed a petition with the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) requesting an increase in gas base rates of $171 million for gas delivery service. The requested increase would result in an overall gas revenue increase of 7.06% to reflect current costs. PSE&G last filed for an increase in base rates in November 1991. PSE&G said that present gas rates will remain in effect until new rates are approved by the BPU. PSE&G is New Jersey’s oldest and largest regulated gas and electric delivery utility, serving 3.5 million customers.

Downplaying the current struggle to boost gas supply enough to meet rapidly growing gas demand, officials at the Potential Gas Committee (PGC) last week instead highlighted the slow and steady growth of the resource base in the U.S. Canada and Mexico, and the need for fewer government restrictions on land access and exploration and production.