Brief

State and federal agencies have asked Oklahoma exploration and production companies to stand down and stop their work for a brief period in response to a rise in the number of fatalities and injuries in the oil and natural gas fields in the state.

April natural gas futures continued lower Thursday following a brief jump as traders digested a report showing an 85 Bcf decline in natural gas inventories, in line with earlier estimates. By the end of the day April was down 4.0 cents to $3.778 and May had fallen 3.5 cents to $3.859. April crude oil fell 32 cents to $101.91/bbl.

Quebec’s environmental bureau has been granted a brief extension to complete a report on the impact that increased Utica Shale development would have on the province.

The brief midweek firming effect on gas prices from colder weather began to fade a bit Thursday as modest warming trends were in effect in such areas as the South, Northeast and Midwest. They weren’t substantial enough to generate much in the way of cooling load, but they caused the market to be mixed on small price changes both up and down from flat.

The Wilderness Society, in a policy brief issued last week, said the natural gas industry has unfairly blamed the Obama administration for the downturn in drilling activity on public land.

The Wilderness Society, in a policy brief issued late Tuesday, said the natural gas industry has unfairly blamed the Obama administration for the downturn in drilling activity on public land.

The Wilderness Society, in a policy brief issued late Tuesday, said the natural gas industry has unfairly blamed the Obama administration for the downturn in drilling activity on public land.

With a modest (but expected to be brief) respite from harsh cold creeping into the forecasts for some areas, price advances slowed considerably at most points Tuesday and the formerly ultra-strong Northeast market was in wide retreat, with a few citygates seeing dollar-plus losses.

As a marketer had correctly predicted, the cash market was unable to sustain Tuesday’s brief burst of firmness and was down at nearly all points Wednesday. The previous day’s 4.1-cent drop by September futures played a minor bearish role, of course, but it was primarily the subpar late-summer cooling load and continuing warnings about storage facilities soon being unable to accommodate further injections in many locations (see related story) that drove most quotes downward.