Waters

Future oil production from the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) appears bright, and while natural gas production from the shallow waters is declining at an alarming rate, deepwater finds may hold great promise for new reserves, the regional director of the Minerals Management Service (MMS) told a Houston audience this week.

The little El Nino that has been warming equatorial Pacific waters off the coast of Peru apparently grew during the month of October, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which now expects much warmer sea surface temperatures this winter to lead to warmer than normal temperatures in the northern United States.

The little El Nino that has been warming equatorial Pacific waters off the coast of Peru apparently grew up during the month of October, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which now expects much warmer sea surface temperatures this winter to lead to warmer than normal temperatures in the northern United States.

Just when producers thought it was safe to head back into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Lili appeared on the horizon ready to take another big bite out of Gulf gas production. Isidore forced 25 Bcf of gas to be shut in last week, according to the Minerals Management Service (MMS). It looks as though Lili could force a repeat of that situation this week, according to the latest reports from producers.

Even though its energy trading venture turned in a less-than-stellar performance over the past few months, investors shouldn’t take that to mean Entergy Corp. is ready to join the growing list of power companies throwing in the towel on energy trading. When the dust finally settles from the current market upheaval, Entergy CEO Wayne Leonard sees the company’s trading operations as well positioned to take advantage of a “much deeper space” expected in the sector after the current shakeout.

As Argentina’s political and economic waters continue to roil, New Jersey-based Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) recently said that if its PSEG Global Inc. indirect subsidiary is forced, under a worst case scenario, to halt all operations in that country, such a move would result in a pre-tax write-off of approximately $632 million and a loss of an anticipated annual earnings contribution of 16 cents per share of common stock.

Following up on an earlier testing of the waters, El Paso Natural Gas announced last Tuesday a binding open season for 320 MMcf/d of pipeline capacity from the Keystone and Waha areas of the Permian Basin in West Texas to the California border near Ehrenberg, AZ. The binding open season began July 5 and closes on Aug. 2.

Following up on an earlier testing of the waters, El Paso Natural Gas announced Tuesday a binding open season for 320 MMcf/d of pipeline capacity from the Keystone and Waha areas of the Permian Basin in West Texas to the California border near Ehrenberg, AZ. The binding open season began July 5 and closes on Aug. 2.

A rich pocket of natural gas in the shallow waters off the coast of Mississippi is paying off handsomely for Chevron U.S.A. Production Co., which reports that production has more than tripled this year in its Viosca Knoll Carbonate Trend to 230 MMcf/d, up from 60 MMcf/d in 1999.