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Even though local and state regulatory attitudes are positive — particularly compared to California — liquefied natural gas (LNG) development for the Pacific Northwest may not be able to compete against renewable and conservation alternatives, along with new western onshore natural gas supplies, according to speakers at a western energy conference Thursday.

Though the official start of summer is still a couple of weeks away, rising heat levels Monday made it feel like the season was already well under way. The pickup in power generation load combined with the screen’s continuing climb and the return of industrial demand from its usual weekend hiatus to create double-digit cash price increases at all points.

ExxonMobil Corp. on Friday vowed to appeal a decision by a Louisiana appeals court, even though the court substantially reduced punitive damages against the oil giant in connection with a eight-year-old lawsuit brought by a family over contaminated land. Exxon said in a statement that the compensatory and punitive awards still were “excessive and unjustified.”

Several electric power companies were unable to pass interim generation market power tests adopted by FERC, and those companies failing screens now have 60 days to file a delivered price test, propose case-specific market power mitigation, or accept default cost-based rates and file cost support for those rates, the Commission said at its regular meeting last Wednesday.

The industrial sector’s natural gas demand is not expected to rebound to favorable 2000 levels until about 2017, even though gas prices are likely to begin easing up after 2006, according to a new report issued by Energy Ventures Analysis Inc. (EVA).

The industrial sector’s natural gas demand is not expected to rebound to favorable 2000 levels until about 2017, even though gas prices are likely to begin easing up after 2006, according to a new report issued by Energy Ventures Analysis Inc. (EVA).

A now-estimated $18 billion, 10-year energy tax package rode through the Senate last Tuesday on the coattails of a broader corporate tax bill (S. 1637), which passed 92 to 5. It marked the first victory for the energy bill this year.

The $14 billion, 10-year energy tax package rode through the Senate Tuesday on the coattails of a broader corporate tax bill (S. 1637), which passed 92 to 5. It marked the first victory for the energy bill this year.

Lehman Brothers on Friday increased its 2004 natural gas price estimate 11% to $5/MMBtu, even though it noted in a report that the recent storage withdrawals have been disappointing.