Treat

Natural gas price bears could be in for a treat over the next few months if Mother Nature goes along with WSI Corp.’s just-released forecast, which calls for the May-July period to be cooler than normal across parts of the northeastern United States, with above-normal temperatures common elsewhere, especially in the western United States.

Seventeen environmental groups Wednesday filed a petition with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to include the oil and gas extraction industry, particularly hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations, in its Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reporting requirements.

Surging shale oil reserves in the United States led BP plc to apparently secure permission, and Royal Dutch Shell plc to apply, for export licenses to ship U.S. crude oil supplies to Canada and possibly elsewhere.

Universities should be working to answer outstanding questions about shale development, but until they do the practice should proceed cautiously, if it proceeds at all, a Cornell University professor told students in Pittsburgh on Friday.

Emphasizing education and his state’s economy, Oregon’s new governor last week offered an inaugural address that was devoid of any clues as to how he will treat energy issues in a state buffeted by high unemployment and a $3.5 billion budget deficit. However, a spokesperson in the state energy department said Gov. John Kitzhaber has indicated that he wants to focus on energy efficiency, biomass and long-term energy planning.

Emphasizing education and his state’s economy, Oregon’s new governor on Monday offered an inaugural address that was devoid of any clues as to how he will treat energy issues in a state buffeted by high unemployment and a $3.5 billion budget deficit. However, a spokesperson in the state energy department said Gov. John Kitzhaber has indicated that he wants to focus on energy efficiency, biomass and long-term energy planning.

It was trick and treat for Westport, CT-based NGS Energy LP on Halloween when it added to its portfolio of merchant natural gas storage facilities on the Gulf Coast and announced that it obtained FERC approval for its Leaf River Energy Center LLC in Mississippi.

Sempra Energy’s utility overhaul of the Southern California natural gas transmission pipeline and storage system with its new firm access rights (FAR) was implemented late last month. And while experts agree that it will take several months for the market to make a complete transition to the new system, trading liquidity and volume were promising at the delivery location, providing ample data for NGI to debut its new SoCal Citygate price index on Oct. 1.

Propelled by a smaller-than-expected storage injection figure and fueled by concerns over a tropical depression in the eastern Caribbean Sea, natural gas futures jumped to a new two-week high Thursday as holders of recently established short positions headed for the exits. That short-covering was enough to boost the November contract to a $2.47 high en route to its $2.414 close, a 9.4-cent advance for the session.