Maybe it's just me being away for a long time but the new TWGS seems to be doing some things differently.

I am testing mine and am currently running an unlimited game on my server (please, feel free to join me). I have all the aliens enabled as well as the Ferrballs.

I have a strong concentration of them around SD (which can be seen in the logs because I sit there and kill them endlessly). I also just found the Ferrengi bubble (enabled) and invaded it.

Every single port near any of these concentrations of AI creatures is always completely wiped out of fuel ore! Sometimes, getting fuel to leave can be a real problem!

Is this something new or did I just not notice it so much before?

In the Gold Alien editor you can set how low the aliens trade ports down. You can also set their aggression and how large of a "pack" they run in.

Play around with the edits some more.

I have an edit with Gold ferrengi and 2 additional races, one red and one blue. I also set them moderatly aggressive and ports at only 40% at bang. So, this game sort of felt to me like Fament was back in the day, full of traders trading down ports, hard to find a solid pair to begin with etc.

I think my only gripe with AI races is they pretty much stick to the MSL's and don't wander about too far, or maybe that's been fixed now. I haven't played a game with Gold Aliens for a while.

Cruncher, there was a bug that limited the movement of Gold aliens more than it should have. Also, the Exploration Probability in the Gold Alien Editor Settings tab will improve their ability to wander. If you haven't adjusted that, you might see some improvement.