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ExxonMobil Corp. this week launched a public relations campaign while Chevron Corp. is working with industry groups to assure the public that drilling unconventional wells using hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) is safe. The moves preceded separate annual meetings where shareholders voiced growing support for more disclosure about the well stimulation practices.

Much like a week earlier, the cash market got off to a strong start with double-digit increases across the board Monday. It derived support from a 13.6-cent rise in prompt-month futures on the previous Friday, Baker Hughes having reported a further decline in gas-directed drilling rig activity over the course of last week (see Daily GPI, May 23), and growing weather-based load — primarily in the form of hotter temperatures having arrived over the weekend in the South.

June natural gas futures fell hard Thursday as a double whammy of a moderately negative inventory report combined with a broad market downdraft in equities and other commodity markets to pummel prices. At the close June had fallen 31.6 cents to $4.261 and July was similarly lower by 31.3 cents to $4.331.

June natural gas futures posted nearly a double-digit loss Wednesday as traders discount expected additions to inventories below historical norms and note a weakening technical outlook. At the close June had fallen 9.3 cents to $4.577 and July had weakened 9.4 cents to $4.644. June crude oil swooned $1.81 to $109.24/bbl.

May natural gas futures posted a stout double-digit gain Thursday ahead of an extended holiday weekend as traders reacted to a government inventory report showing storage gas to be somewhat less than anticipated. At the close May had advanced 10.2 cents to $4.412 and June gained 10.9 cents to $4.466. June crude oil continued its winning ways, posting a gain of 84 cents to $112.29/bbl.

A shortage of onshore drilling equipment capable of blasting into shale is contributing to double-digit inflation in some of the big U.S. unconventional plays, an issue expected to be played out over the coming weeks as North American exploration and production (E&P) companies unveil earnings for the first three months of 2011.

A shortage of onshore drilling equipment capable of blasting into shale is contributing to double-digit inflation in some of the big U.S. unconventional plays, an issue expected to be played out over the coming weeks as North American exploration and production (E&P) companies unveil earnings for the first three months of 2011.

While nearly all of the rest of the market was seeing losses that were mostly in double digits Wednesday, an arctic cold front was generating triple-digit spikes at many of the Northeast citygates. General softness elsewhere was based chiefly on areas either already sustaining cool to moderate conditions or moving back in that direction. The previous day’s downturn of 16.4 cents by April futures provided further negative guidance for the cash market.

April natural gas futures suffered a double-digit loss Tuesday as bearish views on the market — which ranged from robust selling by short-term traders to abundant production — trumped those seeing a tighter storage dynamic firming prices. At the close April futures had retreated 16.4 cents to $3.873 and May natural gas had fallen 16.0 cents to $3.950. April crude oil surged $2.66 to $99.63/bbl as concern surfaced that Libyan unrest would spread to Saudi Arabia and Iran.