Thinking

When oil prices wave goodbye to the natural gas market and head for the moon, even the staunchest gas-focused producer can turn wistful thinking of the liquid hydrocarbon and what might have been.

When oil prices wave goodbye to the natural gas market and head for the moon, even the staunchest gas-focused producer can turn wistful thinking of the liquid hydrocarbon and what might have been.

The latest proposal for an offshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal along the Southern California coast is a classic case of the late-bloomers thinking they can leapfrog four competitors by saving time and money avoiding mistakes made by the front-runners in recent years. Whether the late bet pays off should become clearer by the end of this year.

The latest proposal for an offshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal along the Southern California coast is a classic case of the late-bloomers thinking they can leapfrog four competitors well ahead of them by saving time and money avoiding mistakes made by the front-runners in recent years. Whether the late bet pays off should become clearer by the end of this year.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX) last Thursday said he was “strongly” thinking about conducting a “very open markup” of HR 6, last year’s failed energy bill, in order to improve upon and update the measure to win broad bipartisan support in the House.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX) on Thursday said he was “strongly, strongly, strongly” thinking about conducting a “very open markup” of HR 6, last year’s failed energy bill, in order to improve upon and update the measure to win broad bipartisan support in the House.

Getting significant boosts from both the screen and further revision in thinking about how cold this week’s weather will be, prices were in major rebound mode Monday. Double-digit gains were recorded across the board, with several points in both the East and West seeing upticks in the vicinity of 40 cents.

Claiming it is more economic reality than wishful thinking, a disparate set of energy industry stakeholders expressed optimism last week that the energy trading sector will rebound. They predicted that order will be restored and credibility will slowly return even with more legal shocks like the former Enron trader’s guilty plea to federal authorities earlier this month. Trading is too essential to the operation of the nation’s energy system, particularly electricity, a variety of industry sources in the West and the East said in interviews with NGI.

The market was back at it Friday, acting contrary to logical thinking in some traders’ minds. Eastern points were mostly flat overall, but ranging from mildly softer to more than a nickel higher at a few Northeast citygates despite weather in most areas that didn’t appear to justify relative firmness. Meanwhile, an honest to goodness winter storm was moving eastward into the Rockies, yet numbers were down by a nickel or more at most western points.