Bigger

If it’s wet, it’s hot; if it’s dry, it’s not; $4/MMBtu is the “new normal,” and bigger is still better when it comes to production. That’s the crux of the industry wisdom collected by Barclays Capital analyst Michael Zenker and his team at the firm’s recent CEO Energy-Power Conference.

If it’s wet, it’s hot; if it’s dry, it’s not; $4/MMBtu is the “new normal” and bigger is still better when it comes to production. That’s the crux of the industry wisdom collected by Barclays Capital analyst Michael Zenker and his team at the firm’s recent CEO Energy-Power Conference.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is taking a bigger bet on future growth of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by agreeing to become a natural gas supplier and equity partner in Chevron Corp.’s Wheatstone, one of two mega projects now under way in Australia.

Southern lows predicted to drop to the 50 area east of the Mississippi River were contributing a small amount of heating load to the much bigger demand in Canada and from the U.S. Northeast through the Midwest into the Upper Plains. The entire cash market continued to move higher Thursday except for a flat Agua Dulce, but significantly smaller increases than the day before signaled that the week’s bullishness might be running out of steam.

Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the midstream sector last year got back to the all-time high level of 2006. Nearly all (94%) of the activity last year was driven by spending on gas pipelines and gas gathering and processing facilities in the United States, and shale gas plays featured prominently in that activity, according to the “IHS Herold 2011 Global Midstream M&A Review.”

Chevron Corp. could make a bigger push into U.S. unconventional plays once the acquisition of shale operator Atlas Energy Inc. is completed, CEO John Watson said Friday.

Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s continued acquisitiveness this year has given the producer an even bigger bag of domestic shale prospects to develop, but the buying spree and questions about its accounting practices have drawn a “sell” recommendation from one veteran analyst.

Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s continued acquisitiveness this year has given the producer an even bigger bag of domestic shale prospects to develop, but the buying spree, plus questions about its accounting practices, has drawn a “sell” recommendation from one veteran analyst.

As long as government policies give the go-ahead to take over more demand, natural gas will play a bigger role in the world’s energy consumption , Royal Dutch Shell plc CEO Peter Voser said last week.