Bust

Based on the most recent state data for this year, New Mexico is on track to bust the 80 million bbl oil production level for the first time since the late 1970s, and natural gas is expected to stay level at about 1.2 Tcf, according New Mexico Oil and Gas Association (NMOGA) officials.

The Bakken Shale may be booming, but Oneok Partners LP’s recent open season for the proposed Bakken Crude Express Pipeline was a bust, and the project has been scrapped, the partnership said Tuesday.

Continuing high natural gas production levels driving prices to the sub-$2 level raise concerns of an eventual production bust that could result in higher prices for producers, according to a market report Thursday by FERC’s Office of Enforcement (OE).

The shift to shales — and the rise in oil prices — has lifted the domestic rig count close to 20-year highs and shifted the landscape, helped several states join Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana in the chase for natural gas and oil production, according to Headwaters Economics.

Spring-like weather was starting to bust out in quite a few areas Friday and due to continue through the weekend. That was evident in the spot gas market as prices fell at nearly all points. The weekend loss of industrial demand was another bearish factor, while the previous day’s 4.5-cent gain by March futures obviously did little to support cash numbers.

Following repeated failed attempts to bust out to the upside earlier in the week, exhausted traders were comfortable with doing not much of anything in quiet trading on Friday. After trading lower in the overnight Thursday Globex session, December natural gas maintained a slim 14-cent range Friday before closing at $7.794, down 16.1 cents on the day and 9 cents lower than the previous week’s close.

Looking to bust out of the $5.95 to $6.27 trading range, traders of March natural gas futures explored lower on Monday, breaking below the psychological $6 barrier once again. Despite reaching a low of $5.97, the prompt month climbed in the afternoon to settle at $6.093, unchanged from Friday’s close.

Despite the now infamous bust in gas-fired combined cycle power generation projects in development and even under construction, combined cycled capacity additions are expected to top 78,000 MW during 2003 and 2004, according to Arlington, VA-based consulting firm Energy Ventures Analysis Inc. However, actual operating results will fall far short of nameplate capacity, EVA predicted, because of tight spark spreads.

Despite the now infamous bust in gas-fired combined cycle power generation projects in development and even under construction, combined cycled capacity additions are expected to top 78,000 MW during 2003 and 2004, according to Arlington, VA-based consulting firm Energy Ventures Analysis Inc. However, actual operating results will fall far short of nameplate capacity, EVA predicted, because of tight spark spreads.