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In what has been a tumultuous period for the energy sector, second quarter earnings reports, which will be issued at a quick clip beginning on Monday, undoubtedly will be scrutinized in the days ahead as stakeholders look for some breathing room.

In what has been a tumultuous period for the energy sector, second quarter earnings reports, which will be issued at a quick clip beginning Monday, undoubtedly will be scrutinized in the days ahead as stakeholders look for some breathing room.

Demand weakness has forced domestic natural gas producers to lay down rigs at a quick clip, but inventories still may finish the 2009 injection season with 3.9 Tcf in storage, Barclays Capital energy analysts said last week. Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings is no longer optimistic about a rebound in gas prices this year, and late Thursday the credit ratings agency cut its 2009 base case price deck for gas to $4.25/Mcf (Henry Hub) because of the protracted global economic slump.

Demand weakness has forced domestic natural gas producers to lay down rigs at a quick clip, but inventories still may finish the 2009 injection season with 3.9 Tcf in storage, Barclays Capital energy analysts said in a report this week.

U.S. exploration and production (E&P) companies are laying down natural gas rigs at a faster clip than in previous down cycles, and the gas rig count is on pace to fall by almost two-thirds from last year, energy analysts said last week. Still, some analysts and producers fear that dropping rigs won’t be enough to balance the oversupplied gas market by the end of 2009.

FERC is cranking out its reviews of liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects at a fast clip. The agency on Friday gave final environmental nods to two Cheniere Energy Inc. LNG terminal projects and associated pipeline facilities along the Gulf Coast, after issuing favorable final environmental reviews for three LNG projects just a week ago — Dominion Cove Point LP’s proposed terminal expansion in Maryland, BP Energy affiliate Crown Landing LLC’s terminal project in New Jersey and Sempra Energy’s terminal project in Port Arthur, TX (see Daily GPI, May 1).

Net income for 51 independent energy companies rose 11% in the first quarter from the year-earlier period due to an upswing in both crude oil prices and gross refining margins, according to a report issued by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) Tuesday. Natural gas prices were not cited as a contributor to the upbeat earnings reports of the energy companies that the EIA reviewed.