Coming

After ignoring forecasts of the coming winter storm back on Monday, traders of physical natural gas were forced to face the music on Wednesday as the same system that brought a white Christmas to portions of Texas was still depositing a wintry mix of sleet and snow from Oklahoma through the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. late Tuesday said for the first time in its history the Marcellus Shale operations surpassed 1 Bcf/d gross of natural gas production, primarily because of new wells and additional infrastructure.

The United States will become the top producer of oil globally within five years, a net exporter of natural gas by 2020 and an oil exporter by close to 2030, all thanks to its massive unconventional resources, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Monday in its annual flagship publication, the World Energy Outlook (WEO).

Natural gas and oil executives are less optimistic about the global economy improving over the coming year, according to an Ernst & Young survey of senior energy executives.

Coming only weeks after he said FERC was powerless to respond to cyber threats to energy infrastructure, Chairman Jon Wellinghoff last Thursday announced the creation of an office to help the Commission focus on cyber and physical security risks to energy facilities under its jurisdiction, such as interstate natural gas pipelines, gas storage facilities and the transmission of electricity in interstate commerce.

Coming only weeks after he said FERC was powerless to respond to cyber threats to energy infrastructure, Chairman Jon Wellinghoff Thursday announced the creation of an office to help the Commission focus on cyber and physical security risks to energy facilities under its jurisdiction, such as interstate natural gas pipelines, gas storage facilities and the transmission of electricity in interstate commerce.

Chemical industry executives are going after strategic acquisitions and new product development to lift growth in the coming year in the face of “escalating input costs, stiffer competition and a struggling global economy,” according to a survey by KPMG LLP.

Natural gas demand for U.S. electricity generation this coming winter is likely to look a lot like it did this past winter, 2.5-2.6 Tcf, a top official in the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) told the LDC Gas Forums mid-continent meeting Tuesday in Chicago.

A series of recent decisions by regulators and moves by operators of liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities indicate the logjam of LNG exports may be easing.