Basis

More than a year after it won state regulators’ approval to offer a utility-sponsored natural gas vehicle (NGV) fueling program (see Daily GPI, Jan. 18, 2014), Portland, OR-based NW Natural is still struggling to complete its first deal for compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling.

Natural gas forwards markets in the U.S. Northeast were revived last week, with prompt-month basis prices at the volatile New England hub surging more than $2 on a host of factors, including one that a regional trader said had nothing to do with fundamentals.

In an otherwise quiet start to the week for natural gas forwards markets, New England prices took a nosedive as continued lackluster demand and an improving storage picture weighed on the market.

The elephant named Marcellus that has been sitting on Northeast-Henry Hub basis isn’t about to move along, and what used to be a premium market will see trades discounted to the U.S. gas benchmark for a while, analysts at Credit Suisse said in a note Tuesday.

With the proceeds counted from the sale of its Permian Basin acreage earlier this year, Frisco, TX-based Comstock Resources Inc. is squarely focused on the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas, where it is drilling longer-lateral wells for less money in fewer days and looking for bolt-on acreage acquisitions. The Haynesville Shale will have to wait.

A bankruptcy court in New York has approved plans by Norse Energy Corp. USA to sell its assets, especially oil and gas leases for about 130,000 net acres in the state’s portion of the Marcellus and Utica shales.

Global exploration and production (E&P) spending is forecast to hit a record $678 billion in 2013, 10% higher than in 2012 and up more than 300 basis points from planned spending six months ago, Barclays Capital data indicate.

Global exploration and production (E&P) spending is forecast to hit a record $678 billion in 2013, 10% higher than in 2012 and up more than 300 basis points from planned spending six months ago, according to Barclays Capital.

Driven by a sharp increase in natural gas prices, gas for electric generation dropped all over the nation, except in Florida, on a month-over-month basis in February compared to February 2012, according to the latest Electricity Monthly report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), which was released Monday.