Top News
Anew bill in the U.S. House of Representatives would provide a temporary taxcredit for existing coal-fired power plants, with the goal of slowing a risingtide of retirements for generating units running on the fuel.
Someoil and gas pipeline executives are frustrated that improving financial resultsand good corporate governance have failed to translate into higher shareprices, a disconnect that experts attribute to lagging equity fund flows anddepressed distributions.
MostU.S. coal companies reported a solid 2017 in the recent round of earningsreports but said they must continue to adapt to changing markets in 2018.
Power
*The emerging use of artificial intelligence in safeguarding and attackingAmerica's energy infrastructure was the focus of a congressional hearing on legislation tostrengthen the U.S. Department of Energy’s ability to secure pipelines,utilities, power plants and the electric grid from cyberattacks and restoreenergy supplies during emergencies.
*Rick Perry is staying as energy secretary, rejecting speculations that he willbe replacing current Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin, according to TheAssociated Press.
* Atleast one South Carolina senator believes lawmakers should not decide the fate ofDominion EnergyInc.'s offer to buy SCANA Corp., but should do what is best for ratepayers whenevaluating pitches for state-owned utility Santee Cooper.
*Florida Power & LightCo. has indefinitely delayed plans to construct new units at itsTurkey Pointnuclear plant because the economics do not support plan, MiamiToday reported.
*The New Jersey nuclear subsidy bill will be divided into three but will movetogether through the state legislature, NJSpotlight reported.
*Entergy Nuclear OperationsInc. and EntergyOperations Inc. agreedto take actions to prevent willful misconduct at its fleet of seven operatingnuclear power plants, according to a confirmatory action from the NuclearRegulatory Commission documenting such actions.
*The U.S. solar industry installed10.6 GW of new photovoltaic capacity in 2017, according to GTM Research and theSolar Energy Industries Association's "U.S. Solar Market Insight Report2017 Year-in-Review."
*The Vermont Public Utility Commission is investigating safety concerns atGreen Mountain PowerCorp.'s hydroelectric dam in the Marshfield, TheBarre Montpelier Times Argus reported.
Natural gas/Oil
*CNX Resources Corp.plans to tap both theUtica and Marcellus Shales in southwest Pennsylvania using jumbo 20-well padsto establish what executives at the company's March 13 analysts' day called agas factory, funded by cash from operations and sales of midstream assets toits affiliated master limited partnership.
*Energy Transfer PartnersLP is forming ajoint venture with Satellite Petrochemical USA Corp. The joint venture, OrbitGulf Coast NGL Exports LLC, will construct a new export terminal on the U.S.Gulf Coast to provide ethane for Satellite's ethane cracking facilities inChina.
*The combined Midstates PetroleumCo. Inc. saidthe combined company with SandRidge Energy Inc. would have zero net debt, strongliquidity and forecasted free cash flow generation of up to $400 million overthe next five years.
*The Trump administration is reportedly planning to beef up its tariffs on China, a move thatenergy observers said could hurt U.S. efforts to attract LNG buyers from thatcritical market.
*Bayou Bridge PipelineLLC is asking the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to allowconstruction work to resume at its planned crude oil pipeline because of therising water levels in the basin due to the rainy season, TheAssociated Press reported.
*Stabilis Energy LLChas opened a40,000-gallon liquefied natural gas fuel depot in Odessa, Texas.
*The board of Norwegian oil company Statoil A/S is proposing tochange the company's name to Equinor to reflect ongoing changes and support itslow carbon strategy.
*Rex Energy Corp. agreedto sell certain of its non-operated oil and gas interests in Westmoreland,Centre and Clearfield counties in Pennsylvania to for about $17.2million in net proceeds.
*The Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission is facing 10,000 applicationsfor oil and gas drilling permits that would take five years to address, the Casper(Wyo.) Star Tribune reported.
Coal
*The Kentucky Public Service Commission authorized Kentucky Power Co. to sell up to 200,000 tons of itscoal surplus scheduled for delivery to one of its plants and to pass along theresulting reduced fuel costs to customers.
* Corsa Coal Corp. on March 13 net and comprehensive income of$62.2 million in the fourth quarter, or 56 cents per share, compared with aloss of $10.7 million, or 13 cents per share, in the fourth quarter of 2016.
*Seven Energy owner Pavel Tykac is allotting $1.2 billion of his own cash to buyaging coal and gas-fired power plants across Europe, BloombergNews reported. "Our fundamental assumption is that these conventionalassets will be needed in the near future to balance the grids," said SevenEnergy executive director Alan Svoboda.
*The U.S. Department of Energy is providing$2.8 million in federal funding to two projects that will advance solid oxidefuel cell technology and make progress enabling cost-competitive, fossil-basedpower generation.
Commodities
*Moody's has hiked itscrude oil price outlook through 2019 due to robust global demand and ongoingOPEC production cuts.
*The natural gas inventory report to be released at 10:30 a.m. ET on March 15 bythe U.S. Energy Information Administration is to show a ramp-up in the rateof storage erosion for the week to March 9.
Quoted
"Theseprojects used to be just flush with cash. … Today that's not really the case.So now we've got a business that looks like a lot of other businesses,"John Eber, managing director of energy investments at , at an industry conferencehosted by the American Council on Renewable Energy in Washington, D.C. onthinning margins for some renewable energy developers.
The day ahead
*The U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources will hold a hearingat 10 a.m. ET to consider two Department of Energy nominees, as well as theU.S. Geological Survey nominee.
*The EIA natural gas storage report is due out today.
*Early morning futures indicators pointed to a higher 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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