Crude

Despite a dip in the nearby crude oil market, natural gas futures trudged quietly higher Tuesday as traders wrestled with the contradictory forces of supportive technicals and bearish near-term storage outlooks. It wasn’t pretty, but the April contract did manage to eke out a modest 1.5-cent advance to notch its fifth straight daily advance. It closed at $5.565.

Natural gas is slowly replacing crude oil as the fuel of choice around the globe, lifted not only by its clean-burning capabilities but by the amazing growth of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and the emergence of gas-to-liquids (GTL), top energy producers said Wednesday at Cambridge Energy Research Associates’ CERAWeek in Houston.

Natural gas is slowly replacing crude oil as the fuel of choice around the globe, lifted not only by its clean-burning capabilities but by the amazing growth of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and the emergence of gas-to-liquids (GTL), top energy producers said Wednesday at Cambridge Energy Research Associates’ CERAWeek in Houston.

ConocoPhillips’ upstream unit, comprised of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids production on a boe/d basis, is expected to be near first quarter levels, the company said last week in an interim second quarter report. While the results benefited from a full quarter’s output from Venezuela facilities and new wells coming online in China, the gains were offset by normal seasonal declines in Alaska, Norway and the United Kingdom.

ConocoPhillips’ upstream unit, comprised of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids production on a boe/d basis, is expected to be near first quarter levels, the company said Wednesday in an interim report. While the results benefited from a full quarter’s output from Venezuela facilities and new wells coming online in China, the gains were offset by normal seasonal declines in Alaska, Norway and the United Kingdom.

Constraints on supplies of natural gas, crude oil and coal are unlikely to occur worldwide before 2025, but in the next 20 years, the energy industry will be challenged to design sustainable technology that can replace depleted fossil fuels, the chairman of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group told a Houston audience.

Constraints on supplies of natural gas, crude oil and coal are unlikely to occur worldwide before 2025, but in the next 20 years, the energy industry will be challenged to design sustainable technology that can replace depleted fossil fuels, the chairman of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group told a Houston audience.

Marathon Oil Corp. reported that it replaced 262% of its worldwide crude oil and natural gas production during 2002, excluding net sales of reserves in place. Total reserves increased 237 million boe, or 23% at year-end 2002, to 1,283 million boe.

The October natural futures contract plateaued at $3.467 at the end of regular trading Friday, up 13.8 cents from the prior day on a major rebound off a key support level on Thursday at $3.19. Observers pointed to a strengthening in the overall petroleum complex Friday due mainly to Iraq’s rejection of renewed United Nations inspections. In addition, Tropical Storm Hanna in the Gulf of Mexico was forcing some minor production curtailments, and some technical factors were helping to channel futures prices higher.