Wide

Scorching southern heat, northwestern cold and mild temperatures in the Midwest and Northeast provided a wide variety of weather fundamentals for the cash market Tuesday, but prices climbed up another 20-50 cents largely in response to continued futures market gains, in particular a new all-time high for near-month crude oil futures.

A new report to the Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC) recommends changes to a state natural gas price volatility rule in light of higher gas prices and a wide variation in the hedging practices used by the state’s utilities. The PSC staff report found that while 95% of the state gas consumers were served by a utility that hedged at least 50% of its winter gas supply against price fluctuations there was a significant variation in the use of gas price hedging strategies among the utilities.

The trap door remained wide open Tuesday as January natural gas continued to plummet, carving out a low of $10.960 in afternoon trade before closing at $11.022, down $1.261 for the day. The move brings the contract’s three-day decline to $3.249.

Breaking a four-year logjam, the House on Thursday approved by a wide margin sweeping energy legislation that overhauls the U.S. energy policy for the first time in more than a decade.

World wide liquefaction capacity for natural gas is expected to increase three-fold by early 2011, but only a portion of the incremental capacity will be earmarked for the U.S. market, as the appetite for liquefied natural gas also is soaring in Europe and Asia, according to a new study issued by Energy Ventures Analysis (EVA).

World wide liquefaction capacity for natural gas is expected to increase three-fold by early 2011, but only a portion of the incremental capacity will be earmarked for the U.S. market, as the appetite for liquefied natural gas (LNG) also is soaring in Europe and Asia, according to a new study issued by Energy Ventures Analysis (EVA).

Officials at the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator (MISO) have issued a region-wide summer evaluation indicating the region has sufficient generation capacity to meet the expected summer peak power demand.

The House last Thursday passed by a wide margin far-reaching energy legislation after beating off attempts by Democrats to expunge provisions that award FERC sole authority over the siting of liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals, offer oil and gas producers royalty relief, open up the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to exploration and production activities, and provide manufacturers of the gasoline addition methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) liability protection from lawsuits for groundwater contamination. The Republican-crafted bill was a major victory for President Bush, who has backed drilling in ANWR as part of his national energy policy.

The House on Thursday passed by a wide margin Republican-crafted omnibus energy legislation that gives energy companies multi-billion dollar tax breaks, clarifies that FERC has sole authority over the siting of liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals and lays the groundwork for oil and natural gas exploration and production to begin on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The House bill is a major victory for President Bush, who has backed drilling in ANWR as part of his national energy policy.