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Posts Tagged ‘Natural Gas’

Uncertainty in Europe May Impact Energy Market

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Anti-austerity parties in Greece gained power this past weekend.  The two mainstream political parties that had been critical in drafting agreements with other European nations have lost their combined majority and will need coalition from a third party to form a government.

This election is a direct rejection of current plans to reign in the debt crisis in Europe by imposing strong austerity measures to control the unmanageable deficit.  A third party necessary to have a majority coalition will be one with a pro-growth platform.  The pro-growth belief relies on government spending to stimulate economic growth and thus lift…
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EPA Finalizes First Rules on Fracking

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Last Wednesday, The Environmental Protection Agency issued the first federal air standards for hydraulic fracturing (fracking) under the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants Rule.  The regulations will limit emissions of volatile organic compounds, which react with sunlight to create smog.  The new safeguards will also curb carcinogens and methane, the main component of natural gas and a potent contributor to climate change.  

According to the EPA, the rule is expected to cut VOC emissions by 95% from more than 11,000 new hydraulically fractured gas wells each year.   This significant reduction would be accomplished primarily through the use…
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Natural Gas Prices Sink Below $2

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Natural gas prices recently dropped below the $2/mmBtu level for the first time in more than a decade, extending a long-drawn-out descent that is widely viewed to continue. Prompt month contract prices for May delivery on the Nymex spent much of this week in the range of $1.90 – $2/mmBtu after first settling below the $2 level on April 11, a level not seen since January 2002.

Traders, analysts, and producers have been anticipating a decline to this point for months. Production has soared in recent years given technological advances in extracting gas from shale gas fields…
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Public Utility Commission of Texas Moves to Raise Price Cap

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The latest ERCOT market assessment report released last month suggests a notable tightening of the supply and demand balance in the state of Texas starting this year. The projected 2012 summer peak demand increased 2% from their previous forecast back in December, based on the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center’s 40% chance of hotter-than-normal summer for the state.   The new ERCOT peak demand forecast is only 887 MW (1.3%) less than ERCOT’s all-time record-peak demand of 68,379 MW which occurred Aug. 3, 2011, during very extreme weather conditions. Based on current generation resources as well as planned additions the ERCOT…
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EPA Proposal & Standards Continue to Push the Power Industry Towards Natural Gas Plants

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The electric power industry typically relies on coal to generate half the power that is used in the U.S. every year. The burning of coal results in a host of pollutants including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury as well as greenhouse gasses, most notably carbon dioxide.

Over the years federal, state and local governments have passed numerous laws and regulations to restrict the emissions of these byproducts OF coal combustion. One of the more significant of these rules, the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) which is designed to mitigate sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, will be reviewed by the…
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Two New Proposed Pipelines Designed to Move Marcellus Gas Outside of Mid-Atlantic by 2015

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The growth in shale gas has fundamentally transformed the gas and power industries over the past three years and made gas the fuel of choice for new power generation.  The Marcellus shale in PA & WV has seen explosive growth from 0.2 Bcf/day in 2009 to close to 5 Bcf/d currently. 

While supply growth has exceeded expectations, it will at some point outpace the daily demand of the northeast markets. Efforts are currently underway to assess the pipeline demand for projects that would move Marcellus gas both north and south, further transforming the North American landscape for gas supply…
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