Supported

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter on Thursday awarded two grants totaling almost $800,000 to increase the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel.

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter on Thursday awarded two grants totaling almost $800,000 to increase the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel.

California has expanded its statewide solar initiative, the million solar roofs program now in its fourth year, with a thermal-based program supported by $350 million for residential and business customer rebates. The state’s major retail natural gas and electric utilities are implementing the new part of the California Solar Initiative (CSI).

September natural gas futures retreated Wednesday as traders noted continued pressure on the front end of the board, but suggested the market was well supported at lower price levels. At the close September natural gas fell 6.2 cents to $3.479 and October shed 4.5 cents to $3.767. September crude oil gained 71 cents to $70.16/bbl.

Investment banks JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs Wednesday said they supported the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) imposing federal position limits in the energy futures market to curb excessive speculation, but with one caveat — the limits should be on the ultimate holder of a contract, not the swap dealer when it acts as an intermediary between buyer and seller.

There is the potential for new natural gas supplies as part of the deal being worked out to resolve California’s $26 billion budget deficit (see Daily GPI, July 23), a Houston-based spokesperson for Plains Exploration and Production Co. (PXP) told NGI Thursday. PXP is in line to be the developer of the first new offshore drilling along the California coast in 40 years.

FERC Commissioner Marc Spitzer last Wednesday said he supported the move in Congress to give the agency cease-and-desist authority to intervene in natural gas and power markets to stop suspected misconduct and to freeze company assets.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) Tuesday said it supported House energy legislation that calls for federal revenues from expedited review of offshore oil and natural gas leases and sales to be used to fund clean energy and energy efficiency initiatives.

U.S. and European exchange officials last Monday said they supported Congress issuing a mandate for central clearing of credit default swaps (CDS), a form of insurance against the default of debt securities, which have contributed to much of the tumult in the credit markets. U.S. exchanges say they are ready or near ready to proceed with clearing of certain CDS transactions to increase transparency and limit counterparty risk.