Sudden

So far, it looks like another mild winter is underway, but that is likely to change in a couple of weeks. A sudden warming of the stratosphere — six to 30 miles above the ground — in the North Pole is going to push cold air southward, according to AccuWeather.com.

So far, it looks like another mild winter is underway, but that is likely to change in a couple of weeks. A sudden warming of the stratosphere — six to 30 miles above the ground — in the North Pole is going to push cold air southward, according to AccuWeather.com.

As energy companies begin collecting production data from the few wells drilled so far in Ohio’s portion of the Utica Shale, a picture is starting to emerge that company executives and industry experts agree will determine how, where and when the play will ultimately be developed.

PG&E Corp. and its beleaguered combination utility, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E), were rocked by a sudden setback when its CEO for the past six years, Peter Darbee, announced on Thursday that he was retiring early and the PG&E board accepted his resignation. Lead outside Director Lee Cox, a former telecommunications CEO, will assume Darbee’s chairman/CEO/President role on an interim basis effective April 30.

Sudden extremely cold weather could result in curtailment of interruptible gas service to power generators in New England this winter, creating the potential for an energy emergency in New England, according to an analysis by Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA). A repeat of the close call faced by the region during a January 2004 cold snap is not out of the realm of possibility, CERA added.

Sharply higher natural gas prices led to a sudden drop in residential customer choice enrollments and in the number of retail gas marketers actively soliciting customers last year, but most regulators and utilities nationwide affirmed their commitment to customer choice, according to an update from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Sharply higher natural gas prices led to a sudden drop in residential customer choice enrollments and in the number of retail gas marketers actively soliciting customers last year, but most regulators and utilities nationwide affirmed their commitment to customer choice, according to an update from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The two units at Trailblazer’s Compressor Station 602 in Lincoln County, CO remained out of service Thursday until further notice due to “a sudden mechanical/electrical failure.” Trailblazer has declared force majeure and said the completion date of repairs remains unknown. ITS/AOR and Secondary out-of-path transportation through the station are not available for scheduling. Primary and Secondary in-the-path firm nominated volumes will be prorated based on the shipper’s contract MDQ (Maximum Daily Quantity), the pipeline said.

Quite a few market observers were perplexed by the sudden sharp increase in natural gas futures prices Thursday after the EIA reported another relatively large weekly storage injection of 78 Bcf. The 16-cent increase in futures was even more surprising in light of the apparent discrepancy between EIA’s weekly estimated storage numbers and the actual storage numbers from EIA’s monthly data for earlier this year.