RDC Hears Persuasive Pebble Message - Canadian Gas Markets Impacted by Shale, Too - Today, BOEMRE Files Revised Chukchi SEIS Schedule - FERC Tells Congress of Project Delay

Today, BOEMRE’s John Callahan informed us that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement has revised its schedule for the completion of the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) being prepared for Oil & Gas Lease Sale 193 in the Chukchi Sea, Alaska. The revised schedule allows the Bureau to analyze a Very Large Oil Spill (VLOS) scenario. The draft SEIS is being prepared to comply with a remand on specific issues by the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska in July, 2010. The SEIS will now be revised to include a VLOS scenario and will be made available for public comment in May 2011. A status report was filed today in the District Court to lay out an estimated timeline for completion of the SEIS process.

Comment. Yesterday a large, diverse audience welcomed Anglo American’s Chief Executive Officer, Cynthia Carroll (NGP Photo) to Anchorage and, while we are disappointed to not see a front page story in the local newspaper, we are not surprised. (more coming) See video below, courtesy of RDC, along with event photos. Here is the prepared script. This subjects interests Northern Gas Pipeline readers for a number of reasons. One reason is that if the project materializes it will require large amounts of energy which could place the project squarely in the middle of the "In-state gas pipeline/Susitna, Chakachamna, in-situ coal, LNG import" discussion. Another reason is that the four dozen environmental activist organizations, mostly with Outside treasuries supporting their Alaskan outposts, are the same set of players seeking to deprive the state of all natural resource development, particularly that dealing with oil and gas–our major economic foundation. We wish entrepreneurs well in their pursuit of oil and gas in Alaska’s OCS, ANWR, NPR-A and in traditional North Slope reservoirs. So, also, do we wish mining entrepreneurs well. If we don’t obtain energy and strategic and precious minerals from America’s own bounty, we will continue sending our jobs and wealth to countries that are anxious to develop their resources for export to us — under environmental regimes that may be significantly less rigorous. -dh

On Monday we began posting photos of BOEMRE hearing participants and will be adding more here throughout the day….

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has filed its eleventh semi-annual report to Congress, concluding that: During this reporting period, Denali and TC Alaska worked on negotiating PAs with potential shippers. Both Denali and TC Alaska set self-imposed deadlines to execute PAs; however, these deadlines expired with no announcement from either company. Both companies continue to negotiate with prospective shippers. We are indebted to FERC executive, Richard Foley (NGP Photo) for helping us identify an serious error in our original story, which is now corrected thanks to him.

Calgary Herald by Dina O’Meara. Natural gas prices could plunge to $2 per gigajoule by the fall as volumes get backed up into Alberta on rising U.S. production and stable demand, say analysts.

The sombre expectation would lead to companies shutting in volumes rather than producing at a loss as incremental supply from the United States pushes Canadian volumes back into Alberta. "The million dollar question is what is the ultimate productivity of emerging and key resource and shale gas plays in North America," said Jeff Fetterly with CIBC World Markets. "And from a productivity standpoint, at what point do we reach the threshold where the decline in dry gas activity more than offsets the increase we’re seeing in well productivity in North America." Fetterly expects 2011 natural gas prices to average $4.75 US in New York, and $4.15 per gigajoule in Alberta. … Exports during January and February of this year dropped to around seven billion cubic feet per day, and the trend is expected to continue into the future as new pipelines in the U.S. Rockies and east coast open basins to high demand markets, said Rick Margolin, analyst with Denver, CO-based Bentek Energy. "All of those factors are sort of colluding to deny Canadian gas shares of the American market," Margolin said. "Unfortunately, we don’t see that slowing down." … Over the longer term, shale gas production from the Horn River play in British Columbia and Montney in Alberta could cancel out declines from conventional sources but not for a long while, said Fetterly. "The one light at the end of the tunnel from a Canadian gas perspective is liquefied natural gas," he said. Apache Corp. and EOG Resources have partnered to open an LNG terminal in Kitimat, B.C., with another larger facility also being rumoured for the Canadian west Coast, Fetterly said.

Event Photos to be added below…..