Bets

U.S. onshore horizontal drilling has improved steadily across every category, in part because of improvements in technology, but the “human experience factor” appears to be playing a substantial role as well in moving well times and depth curves to the left, according to an analysis by Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. (TPH).

Market conditions and technology are on target for U.S. natural gas to compete in world markets, and industry watchers are placing their bets on which natural gas export proposals will actually be built and whether the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports will leave U.S. shores by 2015 or 2016.

Market conditions and technology are on target for U.S. natural gas to compete in world markets, and industry watchers are placing their bets on which natural gas export proposals will actually be built and whether the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports will leave U.S. shores by 2015 or 2016.

Already a large player in the U.S. natural gas-fired power sector, Siemens Energy Inc. raised it bets this month on future gas growth with the opening Wednesday of its $350 million expansion of its turbine manufacturing facilities in Charlotte, NC.

A big push begun six to eight years ago among public-sector utilities in California to hedge their bets on natural gas to address growing concerns about wholesale price volatility has come under fire as some municipalities struggle with a recessionary economy and continuing low gas prices.

Don’t look for ExxonMobil Corp. to place any big bets on using natural gas as a transportation fuel. “We think gas as a transportation fuel has a lot of limitations,” CEO Rex Tillerson told financial analysts Thursday. Auto executives speaking at CERAWeek in Houston also said they believe gas-fueled vehicles will remain a niche market.

Don’t look for ExxonMobil Corp. to place any big bets on using natural gas as a transportation fuel. “We think gas as a transportation fuel has a lot of limitations,” CEO Rex Tillerson told financial analysts Thursday.

Don’t look for ExxonMobil Corp. to place any big bets on using natural gas as a transportation fuel. “We think gas as a transportation fuel has a lot of limitations,” CEO Rex Tillerson told financial analysts Thursday.

An economic think tank predicts a rosy future for Canadian natural gas, but in the industry all bets are off on when a turn for the better might come.