Thought

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is not going to be the “silver bullet” that people in the natural gas industry once thought it would be, and to ensure that North America gets its share, gas utilities need to commit to longer term supply contracts and the continent’s storage resources need to be developed further, said Spectra Energy Transmission President Martha Wyrsch.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is not going to be the “silver bullet” that people in the natural gas industry once thought it would be, and to ensure that North America gets its share, gas utilities need to commit to longer term supply contracts and the continent’s storage resources need to be developed further, said Spectra Energy Transmission President Martha Wyrsch.

With two merger proposals in less than six months, Stone Energy Corp. probably never thought it would now be standing alone at the altar. The Lafayette, LA-based producer in June spurned a $1.9 billion merger offer by Plains Exploration & Production to hook up with Energy Partners Ltd.’s (EPL), sweeter $2.2 billion proposal (see Daily GPI, June 20). Today, however, the dumper is the dumpee.

Just when you thought it was safe to close the books on the 2005 hurricane season and turn your attention towards the winter heating season, Tropical Storm Wilma, the record-tying twenty-first storm of the season has formed southeast of Grand Cayman. With Wilma’s path still very uncertain, the natural gas futures market spooked higher in Nymex’s Sunday Access session and then retained those gains through Monday’s regular session, ultimately settling at $13.887, 66.8 cents higher than last Friday’s close.

Just when you thought you could forget about Washington, DC for a while, the resources industry’s political representatives are rallying the troops for successive rounds in the public arena involving, among other things, putting holes in the offshore drilling moratorium, ensuring funding and implementation of oil and gas programs in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, and reforming two 30-year-old laws, the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

Just when you thought it might be safe to venture back into the natural gas futures market, a day like Tuesday pops up. While the September contract did not break its $9.91 record set on Friday, it did rebound from its soft performance Monday.

From a trend once thought to be unpromising because of its dense rock formations, the Barnett Shale natural gas field in North Texas, unlocked by technology, has officially become the largest gas producer in the state, with output up 22% in 2004.

From a trend once thought to be unpromising because of its dense rock formations, the Barnett Shale natural gas field in North Texas, unlocked by technology, has officially become the largest gas producer in the state, with output up 22% in 2004.

Many traders likely thought the previous swing price record of $69/MMBtu, set at the Southern California border on Dec. 11, 2000 (see Daily GPI, Dec. 12, 2000), would never be challenged. But the Northeast, starting to resemble a giant cryogenics laboratory, bested that handily Wednesday with a quote of $76 at Iroquois Zone 2.