Door

Despite revisiting sub-$9 prices for the third time over the last four sessions, expiring August natural gas futures tiptoed out the back door instead of making a grand exit on Tuesday as the contract quietly recorded a 5.4-cent gain to go off the board at $9.217. In contrast, September natural gas shaved 6.5 cents to finish the day at $9.130.

More money is coming in for U.S. oil and gas producers, but a lot is going out the door to pay for exploration and production (E&P), according to a study by Ernst & Young. The consultant reported that revenue for U.S. oil and natural gas producers jumped 12% last year from 2006 levels but profits only rose 4%.

More money is coming in for U.S. oil and gas producers, but a lot is going out the door to pay for exploration and production (E&P), according to a study by Ernst & Young. The consultant reported that revenue for U.S. oil and natural gas producers jumped 12% last year from 2006 levels but profits only rose 4%.

Despite trading within a slim 10-cent range, May natural gas futures on Friday knocked on the $11 door for a second consecutive session, only to be rebuffed once again. The prompt-month contract traded between $10.875 and $10.970 before closing out the day at $10.963, up 17.3 cents from Thursday and 37.6 cents higher than the previous week’s finish.

Although Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has narrowed the field of gasline contenders to one — TransCanada — through the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA) process, the door has reopened to a previously rejected candidate. Producer ConocoPhillips also is still in the hunt with its non-AGIA proposal, and a former governor told NGI that a rethink of the project is in order on a number of fronts.

Although Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has narrowed the field of gasline contenders to one — TransCanada — through the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA) process, the door has reopened to a previously rejected candidate. Producer ConocoPhillips also is still in the hunt with its non-AGIA proposal, and a former governor told NGI that a rethink of the project is in order on a number of fronts.

After completing 27 mergers and acquisitions in 15 years, Devon Energy Corp. always thought it had a surplus of people, but those coming in the door masked the exodus of early retirees and others. Now, with 10% of Devon’s workforce eligible for early retirement and nearly 60% eligible to leave within 10 years, the producer is joining its peers to step up recruiting and retention efforts.

While some Republicans continued to voice their opposition to the closed-door talks on the House and Senate energy bills, House leaders said a conference report reconciling the two measures could be completed by as early as mid-November, according to committee aides.

The trap door remained wide open Tuesday as January natural gas continued to plummet, carving out a low of $10.960 in afternoon trade before closing at $11.022, down $1.261 for the day. The move brings the contract’s three-day decline to $3.249.