Natural Gas News – December 11, 2018

Michigan Utilities Target Aging Natural Gas Distribution Lines for Upgrades

Energy News reported: In Michigan’s two largest cities, 35 miles of natural gas distribution lines were installed before Theodore Roosevelt was president. Thousands of additional miles of these decades-old bare steel and cast iron gas distribution networks are in need of upgrades, state regulators say — a time-consuming and costly endeavor for the state’s two major energy companies, DTE Energy and Consumers Energy. Over the past five to seven years, the utilities have been ramping up spending on gas infrastructure replacement that will cost billions in the coming years, reflecting a national trend. It comes alongside the companies’ multi-billion-dollar plans to modernize the electric grid, meaning Michigan’s energy infrastructure is in the midst of a major overhaul. For more on this story visit energynews.us or click https://bit.ly/2QoJyfO

23-Hour Gas Market Swing Means Sleepless Nights for U.S. Traders

Bloomberg reported: Welcome to the new world market for natural gas, where computers never sleep and, apparently, neither do traders. With U.S. liquefied natural gas exports set to surge by almost 80 percent in 2019, traders in America face a new reality: expansion exhaustion. As more and more international players participate in U.S. gas markets, the price of market security is eternal vigilance. John Kilduff, a New York-based hedge -fund manager, has learned that you can’t rest on the increasingly volatile U.S. Henry Hub gas market. On Nov. 14, Kilduff logged on at his usual 3 a.m. Eastern time and, instead of being able to log off again and catch a nap before his normal workday, he watched prices jump to a four-year high in just two hours. “This is a 23- hour-a-day market now, and you have to be on top of it,” Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC, said in a telephone interview. For more on this story visit bloomberg.com or click https://bloom.bg/2Eq7HvX