Continues

The continued uptrend in North America’s unconventional natural gas and oil supplies and global demand dynamics suggest that the outlook for pipeline and storage infrastructure development may not only be bullish but also long-term, according to analysts with Raymond James & Associates Inc.

Offshore activity continues to grow as development begins on a slate of recent discoveries, a sharp contrast to onshore operators, whose “attitude was rather somber,” according to analysts with Raymond James & Associates Inc., who shared their takeaways from the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) held earlier this month in Houston.

While there continues to be uncertainty among more than a half-dozen proposed West Coast projects in British Columbia, the backers of two long-standing liquefied natural gas (LNG) export-import projects in Oregon told NGI Wednesday they are alive and well and several steps ahead of their competitors in western Canada.

Offshore activity continues to grow as development begins on a slate of recent discoveries, a sharp contrast to onshore operators, whose “attitude was rather somber,” according to analysts with Raymond James & Associates Inc., who shared their takeaways from last week’s Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston.

Forest Oil Corp. continues to step up its activity in the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas with the aid of a recently struck joint venture while it expands activity in the Texas Panhandle. East Texas results remain consistent and predictable, and the company is developing a new oil project in the area, said CEO Patrick R. McDonald.

Natural gas for transportation continues to branch out, with developments in both compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) options.

Natural gas for use in the fleet transportation sector continues to make inroads, as evidenced by the recent news out of Ford Motor Co. that sales of Ford trucks with engines prepped for compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) catapulted more than 350% from 2009 to 2012.

The “reality and potential” of expanding natural gas and liquids from shale continues to have a dramatic impact on the regional and global balances for the two resource streams, PIRA Energy Group said in a new report. The energy consultant released its Annual Scenario Planning Guidebook in “the most uncertain economic environment in decades,” the New York City-based firm stated.

The Missouri Public Service Commission continues to investigate a natural gas explosion in Kansas City, MO, on Feb. 19, which killed at least one person and injured more than a dozen others (see Daily GPI, Feb. 22). According to Kansas City Manager Troy Schulte, Heartland Midwest LLC did not have a permit to drill and excavate near the site. A Heartland crew contracted by Time Warner Cable Inc. was installing a fiber optic cable when it apparently punctured a two-inch diameter natural gas pipeline operated by Missouri Gas Energy.