GLG News by Natural Gas Experts (North America)

    The input costs for utilities to generate electricity are up.  These costs include coal, transportation, natural gas, and power purchases.  There are no guarantees, however, that a regulated utility may pass along these costs as discussed in the commentary section.

    Wind power qualifies for production tax credits.  These production tax credits are set to expire on December 31, 2008 without renewal by Congress and the President.

    Bituminous coal prices have soared over 100% in the last year.  This is obviously bad news to electric consumers dependent upon utilities with a large exposure to coal-fired generation.  The run-up in coal prices could be a benefit to some utilities.

    As the article correctly points out, capital costs to build a new power plant have risen considerably since 2000; coal plants included.  It is not just the up-front capital costs that have affected decisions to build new coal plants as discussed in the commentary sectio...

On the subject of Peak Oil and Global Warming, the article http://windnh3.blogspot.com/search?q=Global+Warming+Meets+Peak+Oil is an intelligent set of ideas on presenting a feasible solution to reversing the energy-climate crisis. 1.  We are at or have already passed the peak of cheap conventional...

THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE HAS PUT THE "CART BEFORE THE HORSE". CONSTRAINTS ON PRODUCING OIL AND NATURAL GAS ON THE AREAS OF THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELVES OF THE US ARE NOT THE CURRENT HIGH DEMAND, WORLD WIDE, FOR DRILL SHIPS, BUT THE MANY STEPS THAT WILL HAVE TO BE TAKEN BEFORE ANY DRILLING...

In the 1970s the US Congress forced the Aramco partners (SOCONY, SOCAL, Exxon and Texaco) to divulge the reserve base they had in Saudi Arabia.  In the 1990s, Matt Simmons reviewed all the AAPG and SPE papers by Aramco engineers about the problems with the reservoir decline.  The Aramco management...

Big Oil (TOT, BP, RDS, XOM, COP, CVX) control very little of the world's oil and gas reserves. National Oil and Gas Companies (NOC) control over 85% of the oil and gas in the ground.  These are Saudi Aramco, NNPC, NIOC, Pemex, PDVSA, Petronas, LNOC, Sonotrach, etc. Big Oil does not have technology...

    The recent plunge in SO2 allowance prices may affect the decisions of coal-fired power plant owners.

    The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling on February 8, 2009 in favor of the plaintiffs that coal plants could not be removed from the list of mercury sources subject to a Maximum Available Control Technology (MACT) standard and the subsequent movements to require EPA to set...