April

April natural gas is expected to open 3 cents higher Wednesday morning at $4.49 as forecasters see some risk to colder than expected temperatures later in the six- to 10-day period. Overnight oil markets were mixed.

April natural gas is set to open a penny higher Friday morning at $4.39 as traders mull a big-picture seasonal temperature outlook and factor in low inventory levels and an uncertain storage refill. Overnight oil markets were mixed.

March natural gas is set to open 13 cents higher Monday morning at $6.26 as traders ratchet up once again expectations of bone-chilling cold expected to hit the eastern three-quarters of the nation. Overnight oil markets were mixed.

Backlog for capital equipment orders in National Oilwell Varco’s (NOV) rig technology segment was $13.95 billion at the end of 2Q2013, a record high, 8% higher than at the end of 1Q2013 and 24% higher than at the end of 2Q2012, the company said Tuesday.

ENGlobal Corp. has been awarded a $5 million contract to provide engineering and procurement support services for a cryogenic processing plant being built in Carroll County, OH, and owned by Utica East Ohio Midstream LLC (UEO).

A unit of Halliburton Co. on Thursday agreed to plead guilty to one misdemeanor count of destroying evidence in connection with the April 2010 Macondo well blowout in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said. The settlement is subject to district court approval.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett signed 29 bills into law on Tuesday, including SB 259, which the state’s chapter of the National Association of Royalty Owners (NARO) has derided as “a kissing cousin to forced pooling.”

A national organization that supports oil and gas leaseholders is furious that Pennsylvania legislators passed a bill that its members claim would allow forced pooling in the state. They are urging people to contact Gov. Tom Corbett to get a veto.

When natural gas prices are $3, Southwestern Energy Co. has 1,200-1,500 well locations to drill in the Fayetteville Shale, but “in today’s price environment, that changes substantially,” CFO Robert Craig Owen said Wednesday in Austin, TX.