Coronavirus

Across the county, moratoriums on gas, electricity, and water shut-offs put in place in the early weeks of the Covid-19 pandemic are about to expire, and by Oct. 1, 36 states may not have utility shut-off moratoriums, according to data from Carbon Switch. The United States saw unemployment at an all time high of 14.7%…

It took some convincing, but traders have woken up to the incredible looseness still penetrating the natural gas market. After a bearish storage report, the September Nymex gas futures contract dropped 7.4 cents to $2.352. October fell 6.0 cents to $2.503. Spot gas prices also were mostly lower, with steep decreases continuing to be seen…

For the second time this month, natural gas forward prices rallied sharply as the prospects of stronger export demand had market bulls salivating — and generally ignoring the coming span of moderate weather that stands to topple storage stocks ahead of winter. September forward prices jumped an average 21.0 cents between Aug. 13 and Aug.…

Even amid lower overall electricity consumption due to Covid-19 mitigation efforts, natural gas-fired power generation grew 55,000 GWh year/year through the first half of 2020, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Comparing the first six months of 2019 to the first six months of 2020, natural gas was the fastest growing source of electric…

Portland, OR-based NW Natural executives on Friday talked up prospects in the renewable natural gas (RNG) sector and the growth in the customer base, which has come despite depressed demand from Covid-19.  CEO David Anderson during the second quarter conference call said construction and conversions have led to adding more than 13,000 customers during the…

Portland General Electric Corp. (PGE) has slashed its operating costs, increased its capital expenditures and redirected its operations to respond to the coronavirus pandemic, and that is likely to continue for the rest of this year. CEO Maria Pope and CFO Jim Lobdell underscored all of this on Friday during a 2Q2020 earnings conference call…

As the original expiration date has expired for most moratoriums on utility shut-offs for nonpayment, several companies within the oil and gas industry continue to support their customers during the Covid-19 pandemic. Since March, NGI has reported on the efforts of more than 57 domestic and international corporations, foundations and utilities as they responded to…

Chevron Corp., savaged in the second quarter by the hurricane-force winds of Covid-19, warned Friday that the pandemic may choke profits through September.  The San Ramon, CA-based major posted an $8.3 billion loss (minus $4.44/share), compared with net profits a year earlier of $4.3 billion ($2.27). U.S. upstream operations lost $2.1 billion, versus year-ago earnings…

Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) for March and April showed that coronavirus mitigation efforts prompted more delays than average in the commercial operation dates of proposed electric generator projects, including natural gas combustion turbine and natural gas combined-cycle plants.  The EIA’s Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory found that 31 natural gas combustion…