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Mexico’s state-owned petroleum company, Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), announced Wednesday that it has started producing its first shale gas from a test well in Mexico’s portion of the Eagle Ford Shale play.

Consol Energy Inc. has proved gas reserves of 3.7 Tcf as of the end of last year, marking an increase of 1.8 Tcf, or 95%, from the 1.9 Tcf reported at year-end 2009. Coalbed methane (CBM) and a “nice jump” in the Marcellus Shale were credited for the growth.

“Shaley” natural gas producers and Bakken oil explorers should be reporting “lots” of reserves additions as they roll out their year-end 2010 reports, the research team at Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. (TPH) said Friday.

Onshore unconventional natural gas producer Penn Virginia Corp. said Friday it will concentrate its exploration activities in oily and liquids-rich plays in 2011 and will spend 40% less than it did this year because of a “weak natural gas price environment and outlook.”

Natural Gas Exchange Inc. (NGX) has agreed to provide the Alberta Department of Energy with an Alberta gas price index, referred to as the Alberta Market Price (AMP). The AMP is a volume-weighted average of cleared transacted prices for all gas delivered in a calendar month at the NGX Alberta market center on the TransCanada Corp. Alberta System, NGX said. The department will use the AMP to calculate its gas reference price, forming the basis of the royalty obligations for Alberta energy producers. The launch of the new pricing regime is planned for January.

The North American shales have been good to Devon Energy Corp. as evidenced by the company’s strong 3Q2010 earnings revealed this week. The Oklahoma City-based exploration and production (E&P) company said it set new quarterly production records in both its Barnett and Cana-Woodford shale plays.

Thanks to its acquisition of Dominion’s natural gas exploration and production business, longtime coal giant Consol Energy is making its name in the natural gas sector as the Canonsburg, PA-based diversified energy producer continues to analyze its position in the Marcellus and Utica shales.

Being closer to a major market area means cheaper transport, right? Marcellus Shale producers are benefiting from that self-evident axiom, but there is some question about their relative lack of gathering/processing infrastructure compared to such areas as the Gulf Coast and Midcontinent hindering them from realizing maximum value for their gas.

Longer term electricity demand should grow again at an average of up to 3% annually, and that bodes well for growth in the use of natural gas in the electric generation sector, ICF International energy consultant Kevin Petak told a GasMart 2010 audience in Chicago last Tuesday. Coal will lose ground while natural gas looks to be a big part of the growth in the generation sector over the next 20 years.