Energy4Business » Market Intelligence

Power Prices Fall This Winter Following Movements Lower in Natural Gas Prices

CNE Market Intel — Fri, 25 May 2012 17:24:50 +0000

Since November 2011, natural gas prices declined nearly 50% to lows back in April as one of the warmest winters in decades contributed to an oversupplied market. Just four weeks ago, front month natural gas fell to a 10-year low of $1.907/MMBtu. Three key themes contributed to significant moves lower in natural gas prices:

1) Weather: A majority of the U.S. was warmer than normal during the winter of 2011-2012 resulting in much lower heating degree day levels. A heating degree day is the number of degrees
Continue reading >>

Cheap Natural Gas Fueling An Industrial Renaissance

CNE Market Intel — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:27:01 +0000

North American energy producers have achieved notable success by unlocking and developing the technologies necessary to deliver vast amounts of cheap natural gas to the market. As a result, the U.S. might be on the verge of an industrial renaissance that could provide the spark that will help the country regain its economic footing, and at the same time significantly alter the industrial landscape of the country for many years to come. A recent surge in domestic natural gas supplies, due to the process known as "fracking," has enabled gas production to reach levels not reached since 1988. The location
Continue reading >>

Uncertainty in Europe May Impact Energy Market

CNE Market Intel — Fri, 11 May 2012 13:54:27 +0000

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
Continue reading >>

Department of Interior Releases Draft Rule for New Fracking Guidelines

CNE Market Intel — Fri, 04 May 2012 20:47:19 +0000

Today, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar released a draft rule requiring natural gas and oil companies that drill on public or Native American lands to comply with new procedures. These rules are intended to increase the transparency of the fluids used in “fracking” process as well as ensure adequate protection of ground water supplies from contamination just below the well head casing.
Continue reading >>

EPA Finalizes First Rules on Fracking

CNE Market Intel — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 18:34:57 +0000

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
Continue reading >>

Natural Gas Prices Sink Below $2

CNE Market Intel — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 19:12:43 +0000

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
Continue reading >>

EPA Proposal & Standards Continue to Push the Power Industry Towards Natural Gas Plants

CNE Market Intel — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 16:30:03 +0000

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
Continue reading >>

Coal Use On The Decline

CNE Market Intel — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 21:25:49 +0000

With natural gas prices at a new 10-year low amid record storage levels and growing production, coal usage has been under pressure from not only the cost competition with natural gas but from the political pressure associated with the desire to curb harmful emissions. Coal consumption by the U.S. electric sector in 2012, according to EIA, is expected to fall below 900 million short tons for the first time since 1996 (See below). Coal demand by the power sector is expected to drop by 5% in 2012 and recover a bit in 2013.

EIA Reports Natural Gas Stocks Climb for First Time this Year

CNE Market Intel — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 14:33:13 +0000

The Energy Information Administration reported natural gas stocks climbed by 11 Bcf in the week ending March 16, slightly higher than the market consensus. Thursday's report marks the first injection since November 2011 and likely the end of winter 2011/2012 withdrawal season. Traditionally, the winter heating/withdrawal season is from November through March. The first injection of 2012 comes about two weeks earlier than normal and pushes total inventories to 2,380 Bcf, further expanding the year-over-year surplus. Following the report, natural gas futures fell as the continued supply overhang weighs on prices. For the remaining two weeks in March
Continue reading >>

Two New Proposed Pipelines Designed to Move Marcellus Gas Outside of Mid-Atlantic by 2015

CNE Market Intel — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 20:29:26 +0000

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
Continue reading >>