Thousands

Royal Dutch Shell plc will streamline its operations, it said last week, and could slash thousands of jobs as the company continues to tangle with weak commodity prices, a flagging economy and project delays.

The first of what proponents hope will be thousands of clean-fueled, heavy-duty cargo-toting trucks arrived at the combined Long Beach and Los Angeles Ports Tuesday, beginning a 12-month demonstration of compressed natural gas (CNG)-fueled transport of containers off-loaded from ships in the nation’s busiest port facility. Sempra Energy, regional air pollution regulators and the two ports are collaborating in the effort to replace diesel-powered transport.

Following five years of public debate and analysis, the federal government cleared the way Wednesday to develop natural gas wells on thousands of acres in a formerly roadless area of the northern San Juan basin.

Following five years of public debate and analysis, the federal government has cleared the way to develop natural gas wells on thousands of acres in a formerly roadless area of the northern San Juan basin.

Thousands of residents in Buffalo, MN, were without natural gas service Thursday after problems with repair and maintenance work on CenterPoint Energy’s utility gas lines. Officials said it could be two days before the service is restored, the Associated Press reported. CenterPoint representatives did not respond to calls from NGI Thursday afternoon. About 200 CenterPoint Energy crews were working to restore the service, preparing to go to each home to turn gas meters back on and help relight pilot lights, local police told the Associated Press. About 5,500 residents were affected. City officials said the gas could be out for 48 hours or more, which is a concern because snow is in the forecast and overnight lows Thursday, Friday and Saturday are expected to be in the mid 20s. Plans were being prepared to house residents, particularly those in extended care facilities, who might need a warm location for the night.

Literally billions of dollars and thousands of job can turn on how high (or low) wholesale natural gas prices go in California, the world’s eighth largest economy, said international consulting firm Global Insight, Waltham, MA.

With thousands of acres of unconventional natural gas plays across the United States and western Canada, EnCana Corp. expects to book about 19 Tcf in proved reserves over the next five years, CEO Gwyn Morgan said Wednesday.

While convincing and collecting thousands of power supply customers over the last two years as other power marketers exited the business, Constellation Energy is still struggling to impress the ratings agencies, which appear to be operating on the principle that “all trading is bad” and no participant in the deregulated market deserves an “A” rating.

As temperatures rise, concerns continue among the Pacific Northwest utilities hit by record demand and thousands of outages in the wake of a freezing Arctic storm that drove through the region at the beginning of the week. In eastern Washington, a spokesperson for Avista Utilities said the next potential problem is freezing rain that would ice up power lines and cause them to sag or come down from the weight as happened in the western portion of the state.