Avoided

Even with more cooperation between state and federal officials in the testing of ground water in Pavillion, Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead said Tuesday that unilateral actions by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are raising concerns.

Earthquakes such as the one that forced a wastewater disposal well in Youngstown, OH, to be closed at the beginning of the year can be avoided if oil, natural gas and service companies are more knowledgeable of the local and regional geology.

Earthquakes such as the one that forced a wastewater disposal well in Youngstown, OH, to be closed at the beginning of the year can be avoided if oil, natural gas and service companies are more knowledgeable of the local and regional geology, according to an energy expert.

A few flat to about a dime higher locations in the Rockies (and ANR ML7 in the Midwest) avoided mostly moderate softness in the rest of the market Wednesday. Some pullback in heat levels across the southern United States and Rockies, along with continuing mildness in the northern market areas, combined with the previous day’s 10.9-cent drop by August futures to depress most cash locations.

ConocoPhillips avoided the “feeding frenzies” that followed the hyped natural gas and oil discoveries in North America, but that doesn’t mean the company hasn’t been surreptitiously piecing together acreage in emerging tight gas and oil shale plays across the continent, company officials said last week.

ConocoPhillips avoided the “feeding frenzies” that followed the hyped natural gas and oil discoveries in North America, but that doesn’t mean the company hasn’t been surreptitiously piecing together acreage in emerging tight gas and oil shale plays across the continent, COO John Carrig said Wednesday.

Only large rallies at Rockies points avoided double-digit losses across the board everywhere else Tuesday as the cash market further softened in response to cooling load declines not being offset by comparable gains in heating load. The previous day’s 15-cent decline by November futures applied additional downward pressure on the cash market.

Only the two Arizona/Nevada points in NGI’s price index table avoided an overall downturn Tuesday as cold fronts were expected to keep summer heat subdued in key northern market areas. Monday’s decline of 2.6 cents by September futures added a further minor bearish note to Tuesday’s cash trading.

A barely higher Cheyenne Hub in the Rockies was the only point that avoided falling prices Wednesday. The factors that have caused softness in post-Christmas trading at nearly all points were unchanged — light heating load due to unseasonably moderate weather for late December, prior-day futures weakness and bearish attitudes about abundant storage.