Coldest

Coming out of its coldest April and wettest May ever recorded, North Dakota’s latest oil and natural gas statistics show the amounts of oil transported by rail shot up to 75% in April while new wells connected set a record at 185. Overall, April oil/gas production was down compared to March, but the daily averages set all-time records on a preliminary basis (793,249 b/d and 846 MMcf/d).

Despite some of the year’s coldest weather being on the way in several regions — outstripping even the often-severe conditions through the middle of last week — a large majority of the cash market recorded moderate losses Friday. The previous day’s prompt-month futures drop of 17.1 cents and the weekend decline of industrial load tended to offset the expected return of major heating demand.

Supplies for the anticipated coldest month in the upcoming winter heating season (January) are expected to outstrip peak gas demand due to new production from emerging shale gas plays, making for a relatively stable market in the months ahead, the American Gas Association (AGA) said in a report issued Monday.

Producers expect to invest C$2.1 billion in British Columbia’s (BC) oil and gas industry next year, C$600 million (38.4%) more than they had planned to invest before the province announced its economic stimulus package earlier this year, according to a report released Thursday by the BC government.

The current El Nino event will fade in coming months, resulting in the stormiest and coldest winter weather pattern in recent years, with an area from southern New England through the Appalachians and Mid-Atlantic, including the Carolinas, being hit hardest, according to AccuWeather.com Chief Long Range Forecaster Joe Bastardi.

Much of the eastern United States is poised to experience one of the coldest winters in several years, according to AccuWeather.com Chief Long-Range Forecaster Joe Bastardi.

Much of the eastern United States is poised to experience one of the coldest winters in several years, according to AccuWeather.com Chief Long-Range Forecaster Joe Bastardi.

Triple-digit spikes at Northeast citygates led advances at nearly all points in last Friday’s trading for the first two days of January. The coldest and most widespread frigid weather of the winter season so far is expected to be in place in most of the U.S. and Canada as the new year begins.

The coming winter will be 4% colder than last year and the coldest the United States has experienced in four years, but it will still be 1% warmer than the 30-year (1971-2000) normal, according to MDA EarthSat Energy Weather.