Top News
Exelon continues to warn of power plant closures absent market reforms
Exelon Corp. management continues to call for market reforms to keep power plants operating.
Enbridge could face lengthy probe of deadly blast on Texas Eastern pipeline
Investigators converged on the site of a deadly Aug. 1 explosion along a portion of Enbridge (US) Inc.'s Texas Eastern Transmission LP interstate natural gas pipeline in Lincoln County, Ky., marking the second time this year that a blast has interrupted service on the system.
Indicators show Texas upstream oil and gas segment in contraction
According to the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers' Petro Index, the state's upstream oil and gas segment is several months into a contraction.
Warrior Met Coal ups production, sales guidance after record Q2'19 sales volumes
Warrior Met Coal Inc. increased its 2019 production and sales guidance in the wake of record-high sales volumes in the second quarter.
Quoted
Eversource Energy offers a "robust financial profile, industry-leading cost management, strong operating history [in a] positive regulatory environment which includes multiple multiyear settlements and a diverse regulatory jurisdiction exposure," CFO Philip Lembo said in response to a credit rating downgrade.
Power
* Xcel Energy Inc. CEO Ben Fowke said that natural gas-fired generation will play a crucial role in the utility's exit from coal in the Upper Midwest by 2030 as the company works to achieve a 100% carbon-free system by midcentury.
* PG&E Corp. reached a deal with Recurrent Energy LLC and two energy storage providers to lower power contract prices by at least 10%, Bloomberg News reported. The utility is seeking approvals from a bankruptcy judge and state regulators on the contract changes.
* Former U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz unveiled a plan for taking "pragmatic actions" on climate change, a strategy he said offers a more detailed path for lowering carbon emissions than the sweeping Green New Deal proposal backed by some progressive U.S. lawmakers.
* The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing a rule to clarify new source review permitting process.
* Trading in the California ISO's congestion revenue rights contracts, primarily by financial firms, has cost California ratepayers more than $866 million over the past decade, The Sacramento Bee reported, noting the activity is legal and allowed by rules that some market participants are looking to change.
* U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Steve Daines, R-Mont., plan to introduce a bipartisan bill to improve forest health and address the wildfire threat.
* NV Energy Inc. is suing a French company for equipment failures that allegedly caused explosions at electric substations and power plants in Nevada, The Nevada Independent reported.
Natural gas
* Magellan Midstream Partners LP executives declined to offer specifics on potential growth projects totaling "well in excess of $500 million," despite facing questions about whether the company is setting expectations about capital spending in 2020 too low.
* Williams Cos. Inc. President and CEO Alan Armstrong said lower interest rates are fueling interest from potential asset buyers and joint venture partners, helping the company continue to shed debt in anticipation of slower growth across the sector.
* Italian contractor Saipem SpA has agreed to participate in a joint venture with Technip France SA and NIPIgaspererabotka to construct the Arctic LNG2 project in Russia.
* Michael Reger, the founder, president and chairman emeritus of Northern Oil & Gas Inc. is leaving the company to pursue opportunities outside the Williston Basin.
Oil
* Shares in Royal Dutch Shell PLC were trading more than 5% lower early Aug. 1 after the Anglo-Dutch major, like most of its European counterparts, reported a sharp miss in second-quarter results in the wake of a drop in global oil and natural gas prices.
* Shell Offshore Inc.
* Whiting Petroleum Corp.'s stock price took a beating Aug. 1, just hours after the company reported a surprise loss in the second quarter, scaled back its production guidance for the rest of the year and cut 33% of its workforce.
* Harris County, Texas, filed a lawsuit against Exxon Mobil Corp. over air pollution from the recent fire at the company's Baytown Olefins Plant, according to Reuters.
* The North Dakota Oil and Gas Research Council and the oil industry are considering a study of lightning strikes at saltwater disposal sites, the Bismarck (N.D.) Tribune reported.
* A coalition of conservative groups is urging President Donald Trump not to get involved in the seizure of Citgo Petroleum Corp., the U.S.-based subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela SA, the Houston Chronicle reported. The Venezuelan opposition government, which the Trump administration recognizes, considers the refiner as a valuable asset to help rebuild the South American country.
* Petróleo Brasileiro SA - Petrobras is mulling a downsizing of its Transpetro logistics unit, Reuters reported.
Coal
* Cambrian Coal Corp. could be heading toward a "fire sale" resulting in the company receiving far below the market value of its coal assets, an unsecured creditor warned the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky on Aug. 1.
* Justice family-owned Bluestone Resources Inc. announced that it acquired the almost century-old ERP Compliant Coke LLC in Birmingham, Ala.
* KenAmerican Resources Inc. shut operations at its Paradise Mine after an accident occurred involving a welder/iron worker, according to a report from WBKO. The Kentucky Energy & Environment Cabinet said recovery efforts are underway at the mine.
* India plans to slash coal imports by a third over the next five years, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the plan.
ChartWatch
Implied heat rates, or the efficiency rates at which the market cost of power equals the cost of burning fuel to produce electricity, sank by over half in Texas and by nearly a third in California year over year in July as wholesale power prices and underlying fuel prices in both states likewise notched substantial losses.
New from RRA
The day ahead
* The Baker-Hughes rig count is due out today.
* Early morning futures indicators pointed to a lower 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.
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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