Analyst

The hunt is on for shale gas in Europe and it’s likely to be successful with a “substantial impact on global gas markets,” according to a recent analyst’s report. That impact could come as early as 2015.

While cold weather of late has helped to turn one analyst a little more bullish on U.S. gas prices for this year, bearish factors — including still-robust supply following a plummeting rig count — have other analysts tweaking their 2010 price forecast downward.

While cold weather of late has helped to turn one analyst a little more bullish on U.S. gas prices for this year, bearish factors — including still-robust supply following a plummeting rig count — have other analysts tweaking their 2010 price forecast downward.

While one analyst team sees a 50% chance for a late-summer gas price collapse, another warned this week that a projected 250 Bcf year-over-year storage deficit at injection season’s end could set the stage for Henry Hub price spikes, given the continued dearth of incremental liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies available to the United States.

Driller Nabors Industries Ltd. said Friday it expects its results for the third quarter to be lower than current analyst consensus estimates due to operational and other factors.

Driller Nabors Industries Ltd. said last week it expects its results for the third quarter to be lower than current analyst consensus estimates due to operational and other factors.

The Williams Cos. reported a strong performance in the first quarter by its natural gas production and pipeline businesses, but its companywide profits were flat from a year ago due to heavy losses suffered on the power side.

The Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Thursday morning report that 23 Bcf was injected into underground storage for the week ended April 6 received little fanfare from traders as May natural gas futures traded a slim 9-cent range before settling at $7.924, up 6.9 cents on the day. Instead, attention was paid to the winter 2008 contracts, some of which have recently cracked the $10 price level.

Does today’s gas market remind you at all of 2001? If you’re an energy analyst at Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. (FBR) it does. In a research note last week, a trio of FBR analysts enumerate exactly how the current market is like 2001, and how it’s not.