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Winter's Toll on Gas Inventories May Last

The polar vortex will soon be history, but its impact could linger for months in one vital industry. The U.S. natural gas market is entering the final month of "withdrawal season," when gas is taken out of storage to meet demand, with surprisingly low inventories. The government is expected to report Thursday that storage fell by about another 140 billion cubic feet last week. Citigroup estimates that the period from April through October, when gas stores are traditionally replenished, could start with inventories of 875 billion cubic feet—a little over half as much as a year ago. Some of the traditional levers for rebalancing gas supply and demand have become rusty after years of glut caused by the shale boom. For example, elevated prices between 2003 and 2008 forced industrial gas users to cut consumption. Today, gas-dependent industry is resurgent and gas-fired power plants have taken market share from […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Winter’s Toll on Gas Inventories May Last

The polar vortex will soon be history, but its impact could linger for months in one vital industry. The U.S. natural gas market is entering the final month of "withdrawal season," when gas is taken out of storage to meet demand, with surprisingly low inventories. The government is expected to report Thursday that storage fell by about another 140 billion cubic feet last week. Citigroup estimates that the period from April through October, when gas stores are traditionally replenished, could start with inventories of 875 billion cubic feet—a little over half as much as a year ago. Some of the traditional levers for rebalancing gas supply and demand have become rusty after years of glut caused by the shale boom. For example, elevated prices between 2003 and 2008 forced industrial gas users to cut consumption. Today, gas-dependent industry is resurgent and gas-fired power plants have taken market share from […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Mackenzie: Keep Markets Free, Address Climate Challenges

More At IHS CERAWeek Tuesday, Andrew Mackenzie, BHP Billiton Ltd.’s chief executive officer, gave a keynote speech where he addressed the importance of the free market in marketing fossil fuels for the foreseeable future, while also addressing climate change. It is possible, he said, to use fossil fuels while also making use of technology to reduce emissions. While best known for being in the coal business – it is the largest mining company in the world – BHP Billiton has also been a player in the oil and gas industry since the 1960s. Today, BHP has a global upstream business, and is a large investor in U.S. shale, and has operations in the Gulf of Mexico. BHP also supplies oil, gas, coal and uranium, and Mackenzie said many say it will take an “all of the above” approach to meet energy demand. The company focuses on geology, technology and […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Hundreds of Keystone XL pipeline opponents arrested at White House

More than 500 protesters chanting, “Hey, Obama! We don’t want no pipeline drama,” marched to the White House Sunday, demanding that President Obama stop construction of the Keystone XL pipeline extension that would daily carry 830,000 barrels of crude oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast. About 200 protesters, who marched from Georgetown University, through the streets of D.C., stopping in front of the house of Secretary of State John Kerry to drop “a fake oil spill,” were arrested after they used plastic zip ties to lock themselves to the White House fence. “We are here to tell President Obama to stop a pipeline that he has the control to stop,” said Justin Filtz, 26, who traveled from Stevens Point, Wisc. “The XL pipeline is like a line in the sand if we are going to stop climate change.” The segment of the Keystone XL pipeline that would run […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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California soaked but little drought help, damage

A storm that brought some of the highest rainfall totals to the Los Angeles area in years, including eight inches on some mountains, was just the beginning of what the region needs to pull out of a major drought. Although the storm was expected to remain strong Saturday, forecasters said such systems would have to become common for the state to make serious inroads against the drought. "We need several large storms and we just don’t see that on the horizon," National Weather Service meteorologist Eric Boldt said Friday. "This is a rogue storm. We will dry out next week." But the storm had yet to do serious damage either. At least not yet. In Azusa and neighboring foothill communities about 25 miles east of Los Angeles that sit beneath nearly 2,000 acres of steep mountain slopes that just weeks ago were menaced […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Winter Storm Aims at U.S. East as Commute Starts Monday

The 28th snowfall of the season is aiming at New York City for the start of the workweek as a storm threatens to coat roads with snow, sleet and ice from Washington to Boston. New York City may get 8 to 10 inches (20 to 25 centimeters) of snow and Philadelphia 6 to 8 on top of a coating of ice, the National Weather Service said. “The most likely scenario is the Monday morning commute will be the most impacted, and that impact could be significant,” said Joey Picca, a weather service meteorologist in Upton, New York. Wave upon wave of storms this winter has grounded tens of thousands of flights, frozen pipes, collapsed roofs and disrupted business across the U.S. New York has had 27 storms since December with at least a trace of snow, weather service data show. Insured losses have reached more than $1.5 billion since […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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The rising of the waters

I grew up in the south of England. It is where my family comes from and has lived for centuries. It is my heritage, and wherever I go, it will be in me. This is what your culture does to you: there is no escape from the sediment it leaves within. It is best to get to the point where you don’t need to escape. The south of England of my childhood, and young adulthood, was overcrowded, mostly suburban, crawling with motorways and spreading chain stores; its old human culture was shrinking away. But still, it had frosty downs, green hills, white fields, hedges of blackthorn and woodbine, chalk carvings, ancient barrows, bluebell woods and small, old pubs. Our ancestral home, or our childhood place, stirs conflicting feelings in us. I once wrote a book which, in retrospect, seemed to be trying to reconcile those feelings with each other. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Calif. lawmakers pass drought relief bill

California lawmakers on Thursday overwhelmingly passed a $687 million plan to provide immediate relief to drought-stricken communities, a package that includes emergency money for communities running low on drinking water and farming communities where fallow fields are leading to  high unemployment . The bill now awaits Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature. Amid one of California’s driest years on record, the Assembly and Senate voted to approve SB103 and SB104 and send the legislation to the governor. The legislative package moved quickly after it was announced last week by Brown and Democratic legislative leaders. It will take effect immediately if signed, as expected, by the governor. The plan redirects money in the state budget and draws from two bonds previously approved by voters. It includes $472 million in accelerated grant funding for water conservation and recycling projects. Another $15 million will go to communities running low on drinking water supplies while […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple