Switching

The U.S. natural gas market may be pricing 2010 based on forecasts for a strong recovery in demand and declining supply, but a modest recovery is more likely next year, with prices averaging $5.05/MMBtu, Barclays Capital analysts said last week.

While conventional and shallow drilling die down, Canadian natural gas producers with deep enough pockets to outlive current low prices are switching to larger, more technical tight and shale targets for their next generation of supplies.

Industrial consumers are getting the message and saying the time has come to think about switching fuels in Canada, as natural gas prices climb north of the border in step with markets in the United States.

Industrial consumers are getting the message and saying the time has come to think about switching fuels in Canada, as natural gas prices climb north of the border in step with markets in the United States.

Higher distillate prices resulting in less fuel switching is one driver boosting wholesale natural gas prices higher than might be expected, but another may be that the U.S. is no longer getting that extra slug of Canadian gas during extremely cold weather that it did in previous years, analyst Stephen Smith speculated.

Higher distillate prices resulting in less fuel switching is one driver boosting wholesale natural gas prices higher than might be expected, but another may be that the U.S. is no longer getting that extra slug of Canadian gas during extremely cold weather that it did in previous years, analyst Stephen Smith speculated.

Switching its focus slightly from exploration to development drilling, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. said last week that 2003 and 2004 are going to be exciting times for the company as past exploration efforts finally come to fruition. Holding an all-day webcast for analysts Thursday, the company said that in addition to shifting focus to the development side of the business, the company also is realigning resources to concentrate on its U.S. onshore plays.

Switching its focus slightly from exploration to development drilling, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. said Thursday that 2003 and 2004 are going to be exciting times for the company as past exploration efforts finally come to fruition. Holding an all-day webcast for analysts, the company said that in addition to shifting focus to the development side of the business, the company also is realigning resources to concentrate on its U.S. onshore plays.

The difficulty in determining savings from switching to another supplier can be the primary reason for not participating in customer choice programs. But a new handy calculator on the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel (OCC) web site (www.pickocc.org) makes the math easy for residential customers. The interactive calculator helps consumers compare rates of natural gas suppliers to their current natural gas company. Consumers enter the current rate of a natural gas supplier in the calculator, their county sales tax and their monthly natural gas usage to receive a side-by-side comparison of what their monthly natural gas bill would be if they chose a supplier versus staying with their gas utility. “Ohio consumers deserve easy to use resources to assist them in making educated utility choices,” said Robert S. Tongren, Consumers’ Counsel. “This new tool will aid consumers in calculating potential savings based on their natural gas usage and suppliers’ offers.” Three of Ohio’s natural gas utilities have offered natural gas choice programs since 1997: Cincinnati Gas & Electric, Columbia Gas of Ohio and Dominion East Ohio. About 38% of those companies’ eligible customers have participated by choosing an alternative gas supplier. Gas choice is being offered this winter for the first time for Dayton area customers of Vectren Energy Delivery of Ohio.