Consecutive

Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s U.S.-focused natural gas production is forecast to drop by 7% in 2013, bringing “to an end our likely unprecedented public company record of 23 consecutive years of gas production growth,” CEO Aubrey McClendon said during an earnings conference call last week.

Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s U.S.-focused natural gas production is forecast to drop by 7% in 2013, bringing “to an end our likely unprecedented public company record of 23 consecutive years of gas production growth,” CEO Aubrey McClendon said Tuesday.

For a second consecutive year, the vibrant history of North Dakota’s oil and natural gas drilling has been replicated in a large illustrated map indicating all 3,461 wells in the Bakken and Three Forks formation at the end of 2011. The map was jointly published by the North Dakota Petroleum Council (NDPC) and Energy/Environmental Research Center.

The tables are turning in the natural gas trade between Canada and the United States as U.S. pipeline exports into Canada set a fifth consecutive annual record last year, according to the latest traffic count by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

Idaho regulators approved a 4.5% rate decrease for Intermountain Gas Co., underscoring the continuing decline in wholesale natural gas prices. It represents the fifth consecutive rate decrease for the MDU Resources Group gas-only utility. The Idaho Public Utilities Commission (PUC) cited various reasons for the continuing slide in retail rates, including abundant domestic supplies, pipeline capacity, record quantities of stored gas and the absence of natural disasters interrupting supply deliveries. Intermountain’s rates for supply and transportation of gas dropped from 45.35 cents/therm to 41.8 cents/therm.

February natural gas posted its fifth consecutive decline for the week and posted a new 28-month low Friday as traders noted greater confidence in longer-term weather models showing a strong warming trend toward the end of the month. At the close February had dropped 2.7 cents to $2.670 and March had fallen 2.4 cents to $2.713. February crude oil retreated 40 cents to $98.70/bbl.

Citing “prolific availability” of U.S. shale gas, Intermountain Gas Co. has filed with Idaho regulators for its fifth consecutive rate reduction tied to wholesale costs of gas.

For the third consecutive year, Oregon state regulators on Monday lowered the retail charges in natural gas rates for two of the state’s three private-sector gas distribution utilities. The lower charges are effective Tuesday and will bring continued lower winter gas bills, although the rates for one utility stayed essentially flat.

A public commission established earlier this year to guide Marcellus Shale policy in Pennsylvania is recommending that the state consider an impact fee on natural gas drillers and look at conservation statutes that include forced pooling, among 96 total recommendations.