Infrastructure

Spot natural gas prices for Thursday delivery continued their rocket-like trajectory in Wednesday’s trading, with gains again widespread, ranging from as little as 17 cents in the Pacific Northwest to double-digit dollar gains in New England. At the close of futures trading, February had jumped 25.8 cents to $4.689, and March was higher by 19.2 cents to $4.550. March crude oil gained $1.76 to $96.73/bbl.

The U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) has requested that FERC look at alternative routes for Kinder Morgan’s proposed Sierrita Pipeline Project, which is slated to connect with a new pipeline in Northern Mexico at the U.S. border. The recommendation was included in DOI’s comments on the pipeline project’s draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS).

Compressed natural gas (CNG) made more noise this month with advances in fueling technology, engines and the transit system in Phoenix, AZ, while AGL Resources liquefied natural gas (LNG) transportation fuel marketing expanded into Florida.

Natural gas lost a bit of ground last year in its share of the Texas power generation pie, according to data released by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the grid operator for most of the state.

The shale gas boom has sown profits and smiles from wellhead to burner tip, but as gas prices and basis differentials have been flattened, along with traditional seasonal arbitrage, gas storage operators have been excluded from the party.

The state of Alaska and ExxonMobil Corp., BP plc, ConocoPhillips and TransCanada Corp. have signed a heads of agreement (HOA) for the proposed Alaska liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, which would provide gas to Alaskans and be one of the largest export projects of its kind in the world.

The Oregon Public Utility Commission (PUC) on Wednesday approved Portland-based NW Natural’s proposal to offer compressed natural gas (CNG) services for the first time. The service is restricted to business vehicle fleets.

The United States will be a global natural gas trading powerhouse by 2035 by which time the commodity’s market share will match that of oil and coal, BP plc’s top economist said Wednesday.

As part of a new year’s sprint along America’s Natural Gas Highway, the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) fueling station in Florida has opened, according to California-based Clean Energy Fuels Corp., which announced several other natural gas transportation advancements on Wednesday.