Natural Gas

A few years ago, Occidental Petroleum Corp. executive Stephen I. Chazen sounded like a cryptologist out of a Dan Brown novel as he told investors that an oil bonanza awaited any outfit that could "crack the code" of California's seismically fractured underground. Occidental's engineers may have done it. The Westwood company revealed in July that it had found the equivalent of 150 million to 250 million barrels of oil and natural gas in an undisclosed part of Kern County using techniques that the oil company's executives would rather not talk about.

The prime ministers of Russia and Ukraine announced a deal early today to settle the gas dispute that has reduced supplies of Russian gas to Europe for nearly two weeks. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Ukraine will pay 20% less than the European price for the gas this year. It is still a substantial increase for Ukraine. Ukraine Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said natural gas supplies would resume once the two countries' gas companies sign a contract. It was not clear how soon this would happen.

Government scientists believe Alaska's North Slope has huge deposits of frozen natural gas that current technology could extract, according to a study by the U.S. Geological Survey. The report estimates that more than 85 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the form of gas hydrates -- methane gas locked in water as an ice-like solid -- eventually may be recoverable, but cautioned that further research was needed.

Regarding "Natural Gas From Overseas Sources Is Raising Concerns," Sept. 21: The California Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously to approve my order establishing natural-gas quality standards for investor-owned utilities, including Southern California Gas Co. With liquefied natural gas expected to enter our state within the next two years, it is crucial that we act now to put in place more restrictive natural gas quality specifications to...

Iran announced a $3.2-billion natural gas deal with China on Saturday, a move that underscored the difficulty of using economic sanctions to pressure Tehran to bow to Washington's demands on its nuclear program. Iranian state television quoted a senior government official as saying the deal with a Chinese consortium, announced two days after the Obama administration renewed U.S. sanctions against the Islamic Republic, would eventually include an unnamed European country as a partner.

Russia's state natural gas monopoly halted exports to Ukraine on Thursday in a dispute that could interrupt supplies to other European countries -- and taps into the deep animosity between Russia and its pro-Western neighbors. Despite weeks of negotiations, Gazprom and Ukraine were unable to come to terms over Ukraine's debts, as well as the cost of 2009 gas and transit fees. Gazprom said that with no contract in place, there were no grounds to continue exporting to Ukraine.

Fuel delivery to four European countries fell below normal Saturday as Russia's state gas monopoly withheld natural gas from neighboring Ukraine for the third consecutive day. Ukraine warned that its gas pipeline system could experience "serious disruptions" if a worsening price dispute isn't settled in 10 to 15 days, threatening shortfalls across Europe in the heart of winter.

Russia's natural gas monopoly dramatically cut flows to Europe through Ukraine on Tuesday, sharpening fears of fuel shortages during the bitter days of winter. Despite warnings from the European Union, a tense pricing dispute between Gazprom and Ukraine showed no signs of letting up even as gas flows dwindled. As the two sides traded accusations and blame, negotiations remained frozen for the sixth day.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin struck a deal early today with the European Union on supervising the flow of natural gas through Ukraine, paving the way to restart shipments to fuel-starved European customers. The price dispute that first drove Russia to cut off gas to Ukraine on New Year's Day had yet to be resolved, and there was no word on how soon gas deliveries to Europe would start up again. There was no immediate response from Ukraine.

The prime ministers of Russia and Ukraine were expected to sign a deal today that would restore natural gas flow to shivering swaths of Europe, where factories have closed and customers have gone without heat while the two former Soviet allies bickered. But it wasn't clear when gas exports to Europe would resume. It could take at least a day for pressure to build in the pipelines and gas to reach Europe once the flow is restored.