Debt

A plethora of natural gas shale deposits, persistently high rig counts, hedging and available debt capacity have stifled domestic natural gas prices for possibly three years, analysts at Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. (TPH) said Tuesday.

June natural gas futures suffered only minor bumps and bruises Wednesday as concerns over European debt levels dragged stock markets and petroleum markets down further.

EOG Resources Inc.’s 2009 capital spending will be cut to “approximate its cash flow” to ensure that it ends the year at the same debt level as year-end 2008, the producer said in a regulatory filing.

EOG Resources Inc.’s 2009 capital spending will be cut to “approximate its cash flow” to ensure that it ends the year at the same debt level as year-end 2008, the producer said in a regulatory filing.

Accelerating efforts to slice more debt off its books, Calpine Corp. on Wednesday agreed to sell all of its domestic oil and natural gas assets — 383 Bcfe — to an indirect subsidiary for $1.05 billion. The sale is scheduled to close July 7.

Direct Energy, a subsidiary of Centrica plc, agreed to acquire Calgary-based Rockyview Energy Inc. for C$113.3 million including debt, the company said Thursday.

Despite turmoil in the debt markets that has cooled interest in master limited partnerships (MLP) among some investors, Southern Union Co. remains “committed to an MLP transaction involving our midstream assets,” a company vice president told financial analysts recently.

Despite turmoil in the debt markets that has cooled interest in master limited partnerships (MLP) among some investors, Southern Union Co. remains “committed to an MLP transaction involving our midstream assets,” a company vice president told financial analysts last week.

To finance its Rocky Mountain exploration and pay down debt, Newfield Exploration Co. Thursday agreed to sell all of its natural gas-heavy properties in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) to McMoRan Exploration Co. for $1.1 billion. Newfield, which plans to keep its deepwater leases, said the sale was one of several divestitures planned over the next few months.