Page 15 - Intelligence Press News Today

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) was responding Wednesday afternoon to a report of oil in Breton Sound near Venice, LA. The spill was said to be several miles long, but it was not known if it was oil.

The Natural Gas Supply Association (NGSA) expects a relatively stable market this winter, thanks to forecasts of slightly warmer-than-normal temperatures, a flat economy and moderate growth in both natural gas demand and supply.

While TransCanada Pipe Lines continues its push to revive its original route for the Alaska gas pipeline, another Canadian pipeline giant, Enbridge Inc., which made its mark in oil pipelines and now is moving into natural gas, is pressing the Canadian government to open up the field for competition.

Vancouver, BC-based Westport Innovations Inc. has struck a deal with Ford Motor Co. to provide natural gas-powered engine technologies for some of the U.S. automaker's pickup truck models, starting in the first half of 2012.

ConocoPhillips is on track for a "new era of development" in the United States, fueled by a growing list of discoveries in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and a solid portfolio in some onshore unconventional plays, the exploration and production (E&P) chief said Thursday.

Chesapeake Energy Corp., which has dropped rigs and deferred most of its dry natural gas drilling for the year, said last week that stronger-than-anticipated output from the Marcellus Shale should lift gas output higher in 2013 than it was two years ago.

The state Superior Court judge hearing the ongoing class action lawsuit against Sempra Energy and its two utilities will convene a separate hearing Tuesday with attorneys trying to settle a lawsuit filed by California's Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante in the wake of the 2000-2001 western wholesale energy market meltdown.

Total demand for natural gas will average 64.9 Bcf/d in 2010 and 64.6 Bcf/d in 2011, about 0.5 Bcf/d higher than previously forecast, driven primarily by strong growth in the industrial and electric power sectors, according to a Short-Term Energy Outlook released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) Tuesday.

A House Appropriations subcommittee last Thursday voted out a $27.5 billion spending bill that makes deep cuts in funding for the Interior Department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in fiscal year (FY) 2012, but is favorable to oil and natural gas producers.

Cash prices overall added an average nearly 15 cents Wednesday as multi-dollar gains at New England points led the charge higher. Midcontinent points posted solid gains, but the East and California chalked up even higher ones. At the close of trading January futures had surged 16.1 cents to $3.700 and February had jumped 15.8 cents to $3.720. January crude oil fell 62 cents to $87.88/bbl.