Thirds

Occidental Petroleum Corp. made a “significant” discovery of oil and gas reserves in Kern County, CA, the company said Wednesday. Approximately two-thirds of the discovery is believed to be natural gas.

In spite of weather maps showing temperatures in the mid 80s or greater in the eastern two-thirds of the U.S. and the previous day’s rebound of 8.3 cents by July futures, cash prices fell at nearly all points Friday. Concerns about the growing storage surplus (and its down-the-road implications) along with the weekend loss of industrial load obviously commanded the most market influence.

The Rockies Express Pipeline (REX) is “about two-thirds finished” and the REX-East portion that runs to Lebanon, OH, will be ready for service by the end of this month, Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (KMP) CEO Rich Kinder said Tuesday.

The Rockies Express Pipeline (REX) is “about two-thirds finished” and the REX-East portion that runs to Lebanon, OH, will be ready for service by the end of this month, Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (KMP) CEO Rich Kinder said Tuesday.

Even with temperatures expected to be above normal this week in the eastern two-thirds of the U.S., in the heart of the winter season that can still mean some pretty chilly conditions. The cash market found enough heating load, supplemented by last Friday’s 16.7-cent advance in February futures and the return of industrial load from weekend hiatus, to register gains at a solid majority of points Monday.

Laying out its goals for next year, Nexen last Tuesday said its capital expenditure budget for 2008 would only be two-thirds of its 2007 budget of C$3.6 billion. The independent Calgary-based global energy company also told analysts and investors that development of a deepwater prospect in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) could be put off until 2009 due to a shortage of rigs.

Laying out its goals for next year, Nexen late Tuesday said its capital expenditure budget for 2008 would only be two-thirds of its 2007 budget of C$3.6 billion. The independent Calgary-based global energy company said in 2008 it plans to invest C$2.4 billion in value adding projects, grow net production by between 8% and 10% and generate C$2.9 billion in cash flow in 2008, which would be a decline from the company’s 2007 expected cash flow of approximately C$3.4 billion.

Alberta natural gas royalties will rise, but a year later than initially proposed and the increase will be less than two-thirds of what had been demanded by a government-appointed revenue inquiry.

Alberta natural gas royalties will rise, but a year later than initially proposed, and the increase will be less than two-thirds of what had been demanded by a government-appointed revenue inquiry.