Happy Earth Day from GasNewsOnline.com!

April temperatures are starting to rise around the country as the annual springtime warm-up is underway.  Today, we’ll take a look at the latest energy news, scan the interstate natural gas pipeline grid, and bring you an update on the six-to-ten day temperature forecast from the National Weather Service. 

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From the US Energy Information Administration’s “Natural Gas Weekly Update” publication:

Net natural gas injections into storage

totaled 92 billion cubic feet (Bcf) for the week ending April 12. Working

natural gas stocks are 1.247 Tcf, which is  25% lower than the five-year (2014–18) average

for the same week.

The natural gas plant liquids composite

price at Mont Belvieu, Texas, rose by 21¢/MMBtu, averaging $6.15/MMBtu for the

week ending April 17. The price of ethane, propane,

butane, isobutane, and natural gasoline all rose, by 7%, 4%, 2%, 2% and 1%,

respectively.

According to Baker Hughes, for the week

ending Tuesday, April 9, the natural gas rig count decreased by 5 to 189. The

number of oil-directed rigs rose by 2 to 833. The total rig count decreased by

3, and it now stands at 1,022.

At the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), the price of the May 2019 contract increased by a few cents on Monday to about $2.53/MMBtu. The price of the 12-month strip averaging May 2019 through April 2020 futures contracts is now about $2.75/MMBtu.

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ExxonMobil said today that it signed a sales and purchase agreement with Zhejiang Provincial Energy Group for liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply. Under the agreement, Zhejiang Energy is expected to receive 1 million metric tons per annum of LNG over 20 years as Zhejiang Energy will build a Wenzhou LNG receiving terminal.

“This

sales and purchase agreement represents an important milestone and provides a

solid foundation for our strategic partnership with Zhejiang Provincial Energy

Group,” said Peter Clarke, senior vice president of LNG at ExxonMobil.

“ExxonMobil

shares Zhejiang Energy’s vision in developing a major LNG gateway in the

Ningbo-Zhoushan region,” Clarke said. “We look forward to continuing our support

for Zhejiang Energy during the construction, commissioning and operation of its

Wenzhou LNG receiving terminal.”

With a long-term commitment to China, ExxonMobil expects to help meet China’s energy needs through its products, technologies, partnerships and investments.

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American Electric Power today announced that its competitive renewable energy subsidiary, AEP Clean Energy Resources, has completed the purchase of Sempra Renewables LLC and its 724 megawatts (MW) of operating wind generation and battery assets for approximately $1.05 billion. AEP will pay Sempra $584 million in cash, which includes $33 million in working capital, and assume $470 million in existing project debt and tax equity obligations, subject to adjustments.

The purchase includes all or part of

seven wind farms and one battery installation in seven states. Five of the wind

farms are jointly owned with BP Wind Energy. BP Wind Energy will retain its

ownership share of those projects.