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| Throw Out Forecasts, Says ConocoPhillips Exec |
 Trying to figure out where the North American natural gas markets are headed over the next decade -- or even the next five years -- is a nearly impossible task, a panel of executives said last week at GasMart 2010 in Chicago. (more) |
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| BP Energy's Vogel Envisions 'Low-Carbon Century' |
| Herb Vogel, the CEO of BP Energy Co. North America Gas & Power, said last week the abundant natural gas supplies in the United States and Canada -- including the tremendous indigenous supplies supplanted with regasified liquefied natural gas (LNG) -- will lead to "profound, revolutionary changes" in the coming decades. (more) |
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| End-Users Watching for Further Price Drops |
| With supplies pouring out of natural gas shale plays and the promise of more to come, end-users speaking at GasMart 2010 last week were less than eager to step up to long-term supply contracts. Some also wonder how much of the natural gas price is the result of speculation in the market. (more) |
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| Bentek Chief Sees Long Wait for Higher Prices |
| Abundant gas supplies make for a "bleak picture" for gas producers in the near term, Bentek Energy LLC CEO Porter Bennett said last week. While prices will stay in a $3.50-5.50 range for a while, this will ultimately spur demand, particularly among power generators, he posited, and that will be the cure for low prices. But until then -- two or three years from now -- things will continue to be interesting. (more) |
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| End-User Still Waiting on NGA Reform |
| A lot has changed over the last year, but one thing that's stayed the same is a disparity between the Natural Gas Act (NGA) and the Federal Power Act (FPA) that prevents gas end-users from recouping transmission overcharges the way their counterparts do on the power side, according to Dave Ciarlone, manager of global energy services for aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. (more) |
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| Fuel Industrial Recovery With Gas, End-User Says |
| More steel and less paper would make for a stronger U.S. economy, and the energy industry is poised to contribute to an industrial renaissance that would bring such change about for the benefit of all, Alcoa Inc.'s David Ciarlone told a GasMart 2010 audience in Chicago earlier this month. (more) |
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| LNG Not Coming to a Terminal Near You |
| Don't believe the reports that more liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments are headed to the United States this year, an executive with GDF-Suez Gas North America (GSGNA) said last week. (more) |
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| Tell the Gas Story, Anadarko VP Says |
| Natural gas is clean and price-competitive with other fuels, and it's abundance in the United States will alter geopolitics and can erode the influence of oil cartels. Additionally gas-fired power generation and gas-powered vehicles can complement renewable energy and clear the air. That's the story the industry needs to tell to lawmakers and consumers, according to Brad Boister, Anadarko Energy Services Corp. vice president of gas marketing. (more) |
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| Climate Change Bill 'D-E-A-D,' Says Lobbyist |
| Two major pieces of legislation are likely to become law before members of this Congress go home for the closing rounds of their reelection campaigns, and neither of them is climate change. "DEAD, that's D-E-A-D," is how a veteran lobbyist described the legislation to a Process Gas Consumers (PGC) post-GasMart luncheon in Chicago Wednesday at the same time the latest climate change version was being introduced in the Senate. (more) |
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| Canada's Gas Market Rapidly Changing |
| Canada's natural gas supplies may not be as necessary to the Lower 48 states as they were pre-shale discoveries. But the country's gas reserves won't lay buried for long, said Nexen Marketing's David Slater, managing director of Eastern Origination. (more) |
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| Storage Growth Is the 'Market Speaking' |
| Based on the proposed storage and pipeline infrastructure projects pending at FERC, the natural gas storage business is alive and well and is likely to grow in the short and long term, according to a federal energy official speaking as part of a panel discussion last Tuesday at GasMart 2010 in Chicago. Storage was called the perfect partner for new supply projects. (more) |
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| More Gas for Generation Growth to Come |
| Longer term electricity demand should grow again at an average of up to 3% annually, and that bodes well for growth in the use of natural gas in the electric generation sector, ICF International energy consultant Kevin Petak told a GasMart 2010 audience in Chicago last Tuesday. Coal will lose ground while natural gas looks to be a big part of the growth in the generation sector over the next 20 years. (more) |
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| Experts See Better Days Ahead for Gas |
| With prices staying persistently low, now may be the best time to invest in long-term natural gas contracts, according to Paul Corby, senior vice president of Planalytics. (more) |
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| 'Greening' Affects Gas Buying, Says Panel |
| While reliability and price continue to be driving factors, environmental concerns are moving into equal footing in the gas buying process, according to a panel of industry veterans at GasMart 2010 in Chicago last Tuesday. The five panelists addressed different aspects of "Integrating Green Goals into Gas Procurement Basics." (more) |
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| NGV Strategy Targets Trucks, Fleet Vehicles |
| Natural gas-fueled vehicles offer the strongest foreign oil-displacement message of all alternative fuel applications, and while there are only about 120,000 of them on U.S. roads now, they're a growing force for energy independence and cleaner air, according to Richard Kolodziej, president of Natural Gas Vehicles for America (NGVAmerica). (more) |
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