Talk

The era of cheap natural gas is over, most would say. Talk of a 32 Tcf market by 2015 has been supplanted, in part, by a growing debate over how best to encourage efficiency and conservation among consumers.

Members of the jury in the trial of former Enron executives Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, who had been together for four months, agreed to talk with the media about their deliberations on Thursday. They all said they didn’t buy Lay’s and Skilling’s testimony nor the evidence against them.

In the United States the majority of talk about liquefied natural gas (LNG) has focused on downstream regasification capacity. Another necessary part of the LNG value chain is shipping, and Standard & Poor’s (S&P) suggests in a new analysis that strong fundamentals in the LNG market can support investment-grade credit ratings for LNG shipping projects.

FERC last Wednesday held off on releasing a much-anticipated final transmission pricing policy statement in order to further explore and flesh out issues related to passive ownership and independence.

Brokers of natural gas futures are on both sides of the debate when it comes to talk of FERC ordering owners and operators of gas storage facilities to electronically post their storage inventory levels from the prior day. Historically the American Gas Association (AGA), and more recently the Energy Information Administration (EIA), has aggregated a sample of storage data for an entire week and reported it on the following Thursday.

Brokers of natural gas futures are on both sides of the debate when it comes to talk of FERC ordering owners and operators of gas storage facilities to electronically post their storage inventory levels from the prior day. Historically the American Gas Association (AGA), and more recently the Energy Information Administration (EIA), has aggregated a sample of storage data for an entire week and reported it on the following Thursday.

Don’t expect to hear any talk from Southern Co. about mergers and acquisitions (M&A) or expanding into energy trading or buying pipelines. CFO Tom Fanning said Thursday that even though new ventures are considered, “I can tell you that it’s just unlikely.”

Nearly everyone you talk to in the gas industry today believes there’s a gas supply problem and that gas prices are going to remain high or even continue rising. James Allison, regional risk manager for ConocoPhillips, said he too sees a supply problem and higher prices, but he also said there’s a pretty good chance that everyone is wrong.

Nearly everyone you talk to in the gas industry today believes there’s a gas supply problem and that gas prices are going to remain high or even continue rising. James Allison, regional risk manager for ConocoPhillips, said he too sees a supply problem and higher prices, but he also said there’s a pretty good chance that everyone is wrong.