Work

Some analysts and company executives have questioned whether an energy trading operation is good for the balance sheets of prospective and current importers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in North America, but San Diego-based Sempra Energy, a leading proponent of trading and a major LNG player, was unabashedly supportive of its trading unit Tuesday at the Merrill Lynch “Global Power & Gas Leaders Conference.”

The Enterprise-operated Toca I Processing Plant work has been completed and the southeast Louisiana plant is back online, Sonat reported Sunday. As a result, the hydrocarbon dew point limitation and the Type 5 OFO implemented Aug. 1 in conjunction with the Toca outage (see Daily GPI, Aug. 3) were lifted immediately.

The growing presence of hedge funds in the gas and oil markets has been blamed for increasing volatility and driving up prices, but little is known about these private investment groups and their market influence. Two consulting firms, UtiliPoint International Inc. and Global Change Associates (GCA), have announced plans to tackle this mystery in a new study, “Hedge Funds Enter the Energy Trading Space.”

The growing presence of hedge funds in the gas and oil markets has been blamed for increasing volatility and driving up prices, but little is known about these private investment groups and their market influence. Two consulting firms, UtiliPoint International Inc. and Global Change Associates (GCA), have announced plans to tackle this mystery in a new study, “Hedge Funds Enter the Energy Trading Space.”

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said Wednesday that DOE is teaming up with FERC, EPA, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Commerce, Interior and Agriculture departments in a new interagency group that will develop recommendations on how to increase domestic natural gas supply and promote energy efficiency.

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said Wednesday that DOE is teaming up with FERC, EPA, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Commerce, Interior and Agriculture departments in a new interagency group that will develop recommendations on how to increase domestic natural gas supply and promote energy efficiency.

The third-party maintenance work scheduled for April 14-16 at the Gulfterra-Thompsonville receipt point in Jim Hogg County, TX (see Daily GPI, April 13) was postponed until further notice, NGPL said. Therefore, it was accepting intraday nominations at the point Wednesday.

Questar has started inventory and deliverability testing at its Clay Basin Storage facility. From April 1 through April 5 the work restricted customers to withdrawals only. A withdrawal test of up to 370,000 dekatherms was set for Tuesday. From Wednesday until April 22, the facility will be shut in for inventory verification, preventing Questar from using Clay Basin to balance receipt and delivery imbalances. Thus it stressed to customers the importance of preventing physical imbalances during that period.

After completing preliminary environmental assessment work on a staff-to-staff basis with federal regulators, Mitsubishi Corp.’s California-based liquefied natural gas (LNG) development company, Sound Energy Solutions (SES), is set to file a formal application later this month with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. A City of Long Beach Energy Department official confirmed that the port city is still backing the proposal, assuming it can meet all safety and environmental standards.