Super

ExxonMobil Corp. Thursday reported the highest quarterly profits ever by a public corporation, but the super major’s oil and natural gas reserves and production — despite record spending — once again failed to grow.

The Rockies Express Pipeline (REX) may be the super highway for natural gas when it is completely ramped up, but pipeline competitors already are forecasting a gap between the ever-growing production in the Rocky Mountains and takeaway demand, which together will require another major pipe system within three or four years.

The Rockies Express Pipeline (REX) may be the super highway for natural gas when it is completely ramped up, but pipeline competitors already are forecasting a gap between the ever-growing production in the Rocky Mountains and takeaway demand, which together will require another major pipe system within three or four years.

The weather was due to turn a bit colder Friday but not match the super-frigid conditions of the Presidents Day holiday weekend until Saturday and Sunday. So with the previous day’s screen plunge of 44.8 cents for guidance, cash prices fell at all points Thursday. Nearly all losses were in double digits.

With super-cold weather not yet arrived but on the way, Northeast citygates soared Thursday, with some points rising a dollar or more. But otherwise there wasn’t much price strength to be found in trading for the long holiday weekend. Gulf Coast numbers were mixed, and quotes for the Midcontinent/Midwest and West fell uniformly.

Natural gas is slowly replacing crude oil as the fuel of choice around the globe, lifted not only by its clean-burning capabilities but by the amazing growth of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and the emergence of gas-to-liquids (GTL), top energy producers said Wednesday at Cambridge Energy Research Associates’ CERAWeek in Houston.

Natural gas is slowly replacing crude oil as the fuel of choice around the globe, lifted not only by its clean-burning capabilities but by the amazing growth of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and the emergence of gas-to-liquids (GTL), top energy producers said Wednesday at Cambridge Energy Research Associates’ CERAWeek in Houston.

Hurricane Isabel, packing super-powerful maximum sustained winds of nearly 140 mph and pointing at shooting the gap between southern Florida and Cuba, was accorded most of the credit Wednesday for rallying cash prices and sustaining a futures run-up. Cash market movement ranged from flat to slightly more than a dime higher. Most of the smallest gains were clustered at California and Rocky Mountains/Pacific Northwest points, which tend to be least affected by hurricane disruptions of offshore supply.

In trading ranges that were stretched extensively due to post-storage report dives, cash prices were rather indecisive Thursday, ranging up and down from flat by up to a dime in both directions. Small gains tended to outweigh small losses.