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PG&E Corp. stock slides; US coal execs talk shake-ups, weakening exports

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PG&E Corp. stock slides; US coal execs talk shake-ups, weakening exports

Top News

PG&E Corp. stock slides as embattled utility faces jury trial over Tubbs Fire

Reflecting investor angst over the extent of wildfire liabilities linked to electric infrastructure of Pacific Gas and Electric Co., the share price of parent company PG&E Corp. fell sharply Aug. 19 to its lowest level since the companies first disclosed they would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection eight months ago.

Final efforts of EQT's former leaders push up Pa. shale gas production in June

Driven by the last moves of the old regime at EQT Corp., the nation's largest natural gas producer, Pennsylvania's shale production inched up 0.5% in June compared to May and 13% compared to June 2018.

Encana goes on Permian permitting spree

During the company's second quarter earnings call, Encana Corp. executives spoke highly of the company's position in the Permian Basin and said they expect to increase both production and free cash flow from the play in the second half. Data from the Railroad Commission of Texas indicates the company is already taking steps to ensure that happens.

Q2 quotes: US coal execs talk shake-ups, weakening exports, self-investment

While many of the top publicly traded U.S. coal companies are still reporting fairly strong results, a recent decline in what had been a vibrant export market alongside a new wave of bankruptcies in the industry is creating some tension for a sector that may soon find itself turning back to a smaller domestic coal market.

Quoted

"The much-touted fuel switch is actually happening," said Andreas Schierenbeck, CEO of German power producer Uniper SE, noting that the utility produced more power from gas than from coal for the first time during the first half of 2019.

Power

* A growing number of policymakers are pushing to eliminate the U.S. Senate filibuster, a change that could make enacting aggressive climate change legislation easier but imperil the long-term viability of those policies by enabling future Congresses and administrations to undo them more readily.

* A vast majority of the CEOs that make up the Business Roundtable have signed on to a paper that suggests companies should focus on benefits to "all stakeholders — customers, employees, suppliers, communities and shareholders" rather than primarily on deriving profits for shareholders.

* Nearly a dozen Upper Midwest utilities will study what upgrades the regional transmission grid may need to meet carbon reduction goals established by utilities or policymakers.

* The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have released the results of a study aimed at taking steps to provide renewable energy through a hybrid microgrid to the Puerto Rico island of Culebra.

Natural gas

* An environmental group accused the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission of failing to provide information on a proposed LNG export facility along the Delaware River in New Jersey, even after the group won an appeal seeking information about the scope of the project.

* The C$1.6 billion Woodfibre LNG project could break ground within weeks, the Calgary Herald reported.

* Renewable natural gas is just a fraction of the U.S. natural gas market, but it received a boost earlier in 2019 when United Parcel Service Inc. signed a deal to obtain the gas to use as a vehicle fuel.

* A legal dispute is preventing the start of operations at a $2.5 billion natural gas pipeline that runs from south Texas to northeastern Mexico, The Wall Street Journal reported. Mexico's state-owned power utility is seeking nearly $900 million from delays in constructing the South Texas marine pipeline, which started operating in June 2019 instead of the original October 2018 schedule.

* North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein will seek additional cuts to Piedmont Natural Gas Co. Inc.'s proposed rate hike, the Charlotte Business Journal reported. The gas utility had recently reached a deal with the state Utilities Commission and two industrial groups to lower its rate hike to 3.1% from 9%.

* Sanchez Energy Corp. has received interim bankruptcy court approval to access up to $50 million in new financing to continue normal operations.

Oil

* Saudi Arabian Oil Co. affiliate Motiva Enterprises LLC agreed to acquire a 100% ownership in Flint Hills Resources Port Arthur LLC. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

* Epic Crude Holdings LP has started interim crude service at its EPIC Y-Grade pipeline. This will give the partnership the ability to deliver up to 400,000 barrels of oil per day to multiple terminals and refiners in the Corpus Christi, Texas, area.

* Brazilian state-owned oil major Petróleo Brasileiro SA - Petrobras obtained three binding offers for its Liquigás Distribuidora SA unit Aug. 16, Reuters reported, citing two sources.

* Lundin Petroleum AB said subsidiary Lundin Norway AS made an oil discovery at the Goddo prospect in the Norwegian North Sea. The discovery was made in PL815.

* Oilfield services provider Quintana Energy Services Inc. is selling its legacy conventional pressure pumping operations in Kansas and Bartlesville, Okla., to privately held Hurricane Services Inc. for a gross cash consideration of $4.4 million.

* Oil sands producer MEG Energy Corp. has complained to Canada's National Energy Board over Enbridge's plans to introduce long-term, fixed-volume contracts on its Mainline system, Reuters reported.

* A group of Alaskans wants to put on the ballot a measure to increase taxes on the oil industry, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

Coal

* John Ward, the new executive director of the National Coal Transportation Association, sat down with S&P Global Market Intelligence to discuss the relationship between coal producers and their transportation partners.

* With the purchase of Cloud Peak Energy Inc.'s Powder River Basin coal mines through a bankruptcy auction sale, the Navajo Transitional Energy Co. LLC will become the third-largest coal producer in the U.S. by production volume.

* The company that purchased former coal producer Westmoreland Coal Co.'s Ohio assets during its bankruptcy process is seeking a federal lease on about 432 acres in Ohio containing an estimated 1.4 million tons of subsurface coal reserves, according to an Aug. 19 notice in the Federal Register.

ChartWatch

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Policymakers across Europe have been scratching their heads about how to speed up coal plant retirements to slow global warming while not wrecking their power grids. But if the economics for electricity generation so far this year are any indicator, they need not worry.

New from RRA

* The completion of several megaprojects to move gas from the Marcellus region to markets throughout the eastern U.S. in late 2017 and 2018 was reflected in a dramatic year-over-year increase in the aggregate growth rate in 2018 of a group of 30 U.S. gas pipeline companies surveyed by Regulatory Research Associates, a group within S&P Global Market Intelligence.

The day ahead

* Early morning futures indicators pointed to a mixed opening for the U.S. equity markets. To view more SNL equity market indexes, click here. To view more SNL Energy commodities prices, click here.

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Click here to read about today's financial markets, setting out the factors driving stocks, bonds and currencies around the world ahead of the New York open.

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