Dismal

Dismal natural gas prices, which EOG Resources Inc. expects will linger for a while, have turned the company’s attention from gas to crude oil and liquids production. The shift in focus will eventually change EOG’s production profile to roughly 50% liquids, but that doesn’t mean gas activity will be forsaken as the Barnett Shale and other plays continue to offer an abundance of supply, CEO Mark G. Papa told financial analysts last Tuesday.

Dismal natural gas prices, which EOG Resources Inc. expects will linger for a while, have turned the company’s attention from gas to crude oil and liquids production. The shift in focus will eventually change EOG’s production profile to roughly 50% liquids, but that doesn’t mean gas activity will be forsaken as the Barnett Shale and other plays continue to offer an abundance of supply, CEO Mark G. Papa told financial analysts Tuesday.

Dismal gas prices and a charge for Rockies basis hedges took their toll on Questar Corp. in the first quarter, but CEO Keith Rattie said the company is “weathering the storm” as he looks to a Nymex forward curve that “remains in steep contango” and growing production that will be worth a lot more as the economy and gas market recover.

Dismal gas prices and a charge for Rockies basis hedges took their toll on Questar Corp. in the first quarter, but CEO Keith Rattie said the company is “weathering the storm” as he looks to a Nymex forward curve that “remains in steep contango” and growing production that will be worth a lot more as the economy and gas market recover.

The players that took charge of the energy merchant sector following the dismal 2001-2002 shakeout continued to lead North American wholesale natural gas sales in 1Q2005, with BP plc, Sempra, ConocoPhillps, Coral and Atmos holding the top five spots in NGI’s latest natural gas marketing survey. However, new participants began “immigrating” into the business during the first quarter, and more are expected to follow, industry experts predict.

The long-term domestic gas production picture isn’t nearly as dismal as some doomsday Wall Street analysts may want investors to believe, but it’s also not as rosy as the federal government says either, consultants at Energy and Environmental Analysis Inc. (EEA) said last week in an interview with NGI.

The long-term domestic gas production picture isn’t nearly as dismal as some doomsday Wall Street analysts may want investors to believe, but it’s also not as rosy as the federal government says either, consultants at Energy and Environmental Analysis Inc. (EEA) said Tuesday in an interview with NGI.

Investors looking for a rise in exploration and production stocks will be “climbing a wall of worry” at least in the near term, according to FAC/Equities analyst Robert Christensen Jr. There are so many negatives, including packed gas storage inventories, no winter weather to speak of, and low oil and gas prices. But the plummeting rig count and declining production point to a turnaround by the middle of 2002, he said.

Investors looking for a rise in exploration and production stocks will be “climbing a wall of worry” at least in the near term, according to FAC/Equities analyst Robert Christensen Jr. There are so many negatives, including packed gas storage inventories, no winter weather to speak of, and low oil and gas prices. But the plummeting rig count and declining production point to a turnaround by the middle of 2002, he said.