This Forbes piece profiles Noble Energy’s diverse portfolio of assets that may appear haphazard, but according to CEO Charles D. Davidson, “This isn’t an accident. This is a strategy.” [Forbes] A top oil and gas banker moves from Morgan Stanley to Credit Suisse. “Before making the move, Mr. McCabe was at Morgan Stanley, and has… Keep reading →
The pace of change in the North American natural gas business has accelerated in recent months, with the US Department of Energy approval process for exports to non-free trade agreement countries failing to stop the achievement of major project milestones and new technology innovations driving market expansion. Four projects have been approved by DOE for… Keep reading →
The battle lines have been drawn for years, but the fight over nuclear power’s risks and benefits reached a new stage in New York this week where issues including public safety, reliability, the environment and ratepayer costs are being disputed.
The Indian Point nuclear power plant run by Entergy generates over 2,000 MW approximately 30 miles north of New York City. Supplying roughly 25% of New York City’s and Westchester County’s electricity, the plant’s operating licenses are due to expire within the next few years and the federal hearings are drawing Indian Point’s proponents and critics into stark relief. Keep reading →
The Marcellus Shale is living up to its promise.
The biggest portion of the massive Appalachian gas field – that underlying Pennsylvania – produced 895 billion cubic feet of gas in the first half of 2012, more than twice as much as it did a year earlier, and 42 percent more than in the second half of last year. Keep reading →
Future natural gas transportation costs to New York City could be reduced with the expansion of the existing Texas Eastern Transmission pipeline from Linden, New Jersey to Manhattan, New York (see map here). On May 22, 2012, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)-the main jurisdictional authority over the construction of interstate natural gas pipelines in the United States-approved an 800,000 million British thermal unit (MMBtu) per day, or 800,000 dekatherms per day, expansion of the pipeline.
This project is slated to begin service in November 2013 and represents one of the biggest transportation service expansions in the Northeast during the past two decades. The project could have the following effects on the New York City market: reduce reliance on oil-fired generators, enhance the reliability of natural gas supplies, and lower transportation costs-especially in the winter. Spectra Energy secured firm transportation agreements for this expansion with these customers: Consolidated Edison (170,000 MMBtu per day); Chesapeake Energy Marketing, Inc. (425,250 MMBtu per day); and Statoil Natural Gas LLC (204,750 MMBtu per day). Keep reading →
As utilities generate more electricity from natural gas, the potential is emerging for freak weather or other events to cause problems for both delivery systems and create a cascading regional disaster, industry officials and regulators concluded in a “stress test scenario” played out in Washington, DC this past Sunday.
Planning to avoid such events, in which problems in the gas system aggravate problems in the electric system and vice-versa, is complicated by the two energy systems’ significantly different regulatory structures, officials said. Keep reading →
