Talked

The Barnett Shale of North Texas is certainly the most talked about natural gas play in the Lower 48. But similar gas shale deposits exist in more than half of the country, and private and public producers are quietly buying acreage in West Texas, Alabama’s Black Warrior basin, the Arkoma basin of Oklahoma and Arkansas, Michigan’s Antrim region, the Appalachian mountains and across Wyoming and Colorado in a quest to find the “next” Barnett.

As part of an industry panel that generally talked bullishly about investment in new transmission infrastructure, PG&E Corp.’s CFO Christopher Johns stressed his utility company’s increased interest in investing in new interstate natural gas and electric transmission projects. While PG&E doesn’t want to own liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals, the company wants to be able to access LNG wherever it lands in the West, Johns told a financial audience at the Citigroup’s First Annual Power, Gas and Utilities Conference in Miami, FL.

California is looking at increased interstate natural gas pipeline capacity as well as the much-talked about liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports now slated for the West Coast as a means of satisfying an unabated 6 Bcf/d thirst for gas supplies, a state energy official said at the Law Seminars International conference in San Francisco on “New Directions for California Energy Markets.”

California is looking at increased interstate natural gas pipeline capacity as well as the much-talked about liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports now slated for the West Coast as a means of satisfying an unabated 6 Bcf/d thirst for gas supplies, a state energy official said Friday as part of a panel presentation at the Law Seminars International conference, “New Directions for California Energy Markets” in San Francisco.

While lawyers talked about a major step forward in a consolidated case in California state courts regarding allegations that El Paso Corp. and Sempra Energy conspired to shut out new pipelines, Sempra tried Thursday to downplay a San Diego judge’s action, stressing that it was strictly procedural and not a ruling on the merits.

While lawyers talked about a major step forward in 11 separate lawsuits that have been consolidated in California state courts regarding allegations that El Paso Corp. and San Diego-based Sempra Energy conspired to block increased interstate natural gas pipelines serving the state, Sempra tried Thursday to downplay a San Diego judge’s action, stressing that it was strictly procedural and did not rule on the merits of the lawsuits.

In a press conference originally set up to update the public about international affairs, President Bush said Friday that he had not had any contact with Enron Corp. officials since the bankruptcy filing, but said he was concerned about the city of Houston and the ex-Enron employees who had lost their “life savings” when the company declared bankruptcy.

Traders not only talked about the weather Wednesday, but also did something about it: namely, sent spot prices skyrocketing by 30-60 cents or more in most cases. The biggest increases came at frigid Northeast and Midwest citygates, topped by gains of nearly 80 cents at Transco’s Zone 6-NYC pool.

There appeared to be nothing in the way of concrete progress towardresolving the California energy crisis, as much-talked about long termpower contracts have failed to materialize, and negotiations areapparently just beginning on the plan of state politicos to buy outthe power lines of the state’s investor-owned utilities (see DailyGPI, Feb. 20)