Await

While investors, traders and others await the economy’s turnaround, at least one thing has improved since late last year. That would be the market for ethane. Late last year stocks of ethane were building on shrinking demand from the petrochemical sector, leading to negative frac spreads, according to some. However, “inventories…have stabilized,” Enterprise Products Partners LP’s A.J. Teague, chief commercial officer, told NGI recently.

As the nation gears up for new leadership in Washington, natural gas and electricity companies find themselves in kind of a regulatory limbo as they await word on who will chair FERC in the Obama administration.

As the nation gears up for new leadership in Washington, natural gas and electricity companies find themselves in kind of a regulatory limbo as they await word on who will be FERC chairman in the Obama administration.

Alaska’s North Slope has long been a mecca for oil exploration, but the region’s natural gas reserves are getting a long look by several producers as they await a final decision on the long-proposed gas pipeline.

Alaska’s North Slope has long been a mecca for oil exploration, but the region’s natural gas reserves are getting a long look by several producers as they await a final decision on the long-proposed gas pipeline.

A substantial amount of unconventional natural gas reserves await discovery in North America, both in existing basins and new areas, and likely will account for 42% of U.S. gas supply by 2010, according to a report by UK-based energy consulting firm Wood Mackenzie. Unconventional gas, which includes coalbed methane, tight gas sands and shale gas, accounted for 27% of U.S. supply in 2005.

A substantial amount of unconventional natural gas reserves await discovery in North America, both in existing basins and new areas, and likely will account for 42% of U.S. gas supply by 2010, according to a report by UK-based energy consulting firm Wood Mackenzie. Unconventional gas, which includes coalbed methane, tight gas sands and shale gas, accounted for 27% of U.S. supply in 2005.

Filling in the gap from the last week of December’s low trade, February natural gas ran up to notch a $6.10 high in Friday morning trade before zigzagging for the remainder of the session. Futures appeared a little confused during the session as scattered weather forecasts pointed to cold weather penetrating the East following the weekend. The prompt month ended up settling at $6.001, down 4.8 cents on the day and 14.8 cents lower than Thursday’s $6.149 settle from the previous week.

With expectations that storage will be full at the end of the injection season, futures market participants have said for weeks that the only thing that could stem the market downtrend was a strong Gulf hurricane. As the Minerals Management Service tallied more than 4 Bcf/d of shut-ins Tuesday caused by Category 4 Hurricane Ivan, these prognosticators appear to be right on.