Infrastructure

Kinder Morgan Inc.’s (KMI) dividend cut after market close Tuesday lifted shares in Wednesday’s trading. Some analysts and investors were relieved that KMI would retain its investment-grade credit rating and not be accessing unattractive equity markets to fund growth.

FERC has told the backers of the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC (ACP) to provide alternative routes for the pipeline that would avoid crossing U.S. forest lands and that the project’s environmental impact statement (EIS) cannot advance without the information.

The Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE PIPES) Act, designed by a bipartisan quartet of lawmakers to improve the safety of the nation’s oil and natural gas pipelines and revamp procedures at the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), was passed out of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Wednesday morning.

Physical natural gas for Thursday delivery managed a small advance in Wednesday’s trading as gains in California, the Rockies and the Midcontinent more than made up for losses in the Northeast. Temperature forecasts continue to be the 800-pound gorilla in the room, and by Friday highs in both New York and Chicago are expected to be more than 15 degrees above normal.

The Los Angeles city attorney on Monday filed a lawsuit against Sempra Energy’s Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) for its handling of a seven-week-old underground natural gas storage well leak that has no end in sight (see Daily GPI,Dec. 3).

Columbia Pipeline Group. Inc. (CPGX) said it raised about $1.4 billion from its public offering of 71.5 million shares. Underwriters exercised their option to purchase an additional 10.725 million shares, the company said.

Less than one month before he assumes the one-year chairmanship at the American Gas Association (AGA), Ralph LaRossa said the public is looking to the natural gas industry to be a part of the solution to climate change, and that despite some challenges the industry faces a bright future.

The five-year surface transportation bill (FAST Act) has been passed by both houses of Congress and carries some important provisions for advancing the use of natural gas vehicles (NGV), according to the Washington, DC-based NGVAmerica trade group, which lobbied hard for the provisions.

Investment decisions delayed or canceled this year for at least 150 global natural gas and oil projects, ranging from export terminals to the deepwater, could leave at least $125 billion a year on the table for the next five years, according to Tudor, Pickering Holt & Co. (TPH). ExxonMobil Corp. is estimated to have the largest exposure.