Skip to main content

NEI's Energy Markets Report - September 17 - 21, 2007

By
Here's a summary of what went on in the energy markets last week:
Electricity peak prices experienced modest gains at all the hubs except for SP 15 and Palo Verde. SP 15 and Palo Verde decreased by more than $10/MWh last week as temperatures and demand receded (see pages 1 and 3).

Gas prices at the Henry Hub rose from $5.85/MMBtu to $6.22/MMBtu. Storage inventories are currently 8.2 percent above the 5-year average, and about 1 percent below last year’s storage level at this time according to EIA (see pages 1 and 3). Gas futures at the Henry Hub for October 2007 rose to $6.30/MMBtu (see page 2).

Total U.S. electricity production for the week ended September 15 fell 7.8 percent from the previous week. The weekly total was 5.4 percent higher than the corresponding week in 2006 (see page 1).

Nitrogen oxide allowance prices last week were 55 percent lower than the same one-week period for 2006. The average NOx price for June - August 2007 was $632.11/ton, 62 percent lower than June - August 2006. Average NOx prices for the three summer months in 2006 were $1,662.12/ton (see pages 1 and 3).

Cushing OK WTI oil prices increased $2.98 to $78.95/barrel. Crude oil futures also rose to $81.83/barrel for October. According to EIA, the Federal Reserve’s decision to lower interest rates on September 18 could be part of the reason crude oil prices are increasing. The EIA speculates that lower interest rates could cause crude oil prices to increase past the $80/barrel threshold (see pages 1, 2 and 3).
For the report click here. It is also located on NEI's Financial Center webpage.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wednesday Update

By
From NEI’s Japan micro-site: NRC, Industry Concur on Many Post-Fukushima Actions Industry/Regulatory/Political Issues • There is a “great deal of alignment” between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the industry on initial steps to take at America’s nuclear energy facilities in response to the nuclear accident in Japan, Charles Pardee, the chief operating officer of Exelon Generation Co., said at an agency briefing today. The briefing gave stakeholders an opportunity to discuss staff recommendations for near-term actions the agency may take at U.S. facilities. PowerPoint slides from the meeting are on the NRC website. • The International Atomic Energy Agency board has approved a plan that calls for inspectors to evaluate reactor safety at nuclear energy facilities every three years. Governments may opt out of having their country’s facilities inspected. Also approved were plans to maintain a rapid response team of experts ready to assist facility operators recoverin...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fluor Invests in NuScale

By
You know, it’s kind of sad that no one is willing to invest in nuclear energy anymore. Wait, what? NuScale Power celebrated the news of its company-saving $30 million investment from Fluor Corp. Thursday morning with a press conference in Washington, D.C. Fluor is a design, engineering and construction company involved with some 20 plants in the 70s and 80s, but it has not held interest in a nuclear energy company until now. Fluor, which has deep roots in the nuclear industry, is betting big on small-scale nuclear energy with its NuScale investment. "It's become a serious contender in the last decade or so," John Hopkins, [Fluor’s group president in charge of new ventures], said. And that brings us to NuScale, which had run into some dark days – maybe not as dark as, say, Solyndra, but dire enough : Earlier this year, the Securities Exchange Commission filed an action against NuScale's lead investor, The Michael Kenwood Group. The firm "misap...
1 comment
Read more

Nuclear Utility Moves Up in Credit Ratings, Bank is "Comfortable with Nuclear Strategy"

By
Some positive signs that nuclear utilities can continue to receive positive ratings even while they finance new nuclear plants for the first time in decades: Wells Fargo upgrades SCANA to Outperform from Market Perform Wells analyst says, "YTD, SCG shares have underperformed the Regulated Electrics (total return +2% vs. +9%). Shares trade at 11.3X our 10E EPS, a modest discount to the peer group median of 11.8X. We view the valuation as attractive given a comparatively constructive regulatory environment and potential for above-average long-term EPS growth prospects ... Comfortable with Nuclear Strategy. SCG plans to participate in the development of two regulated nuclear units at a cost of $6.3B, raising legitimate concerns regarding financing and construction. We have carefully considered the risks and are comfortable with SCG’s strategy based on a highly constructive political & regulatory environment, manageable financing needs stretched out over 10 years, strong partners...
Post a Comment
Read more