Driven

Breakeven shale play economics in a low-gas price environment have driven a migration to liquids-rich and oil plays. “Being in liquids is not only cool; it’s profitable,” an investment banker said in Houston Tuesday. “You can produce gas even if you don’t make money on the gas because the liquids are worth so much more.” But maybe now is the time to be a contrarian, she suggested.

June natural gas futures rose Friday as traders saw the market showing some short-term technical strength and gas-driven rig count figures showed a sizeable drop. At the close June had risen 5.2 cents to $4.246 and July added 5.5 cents to $4.311. June crude oil added 68 cents to $99.65/bbl.

June natural gas futures showed little movement as traders see a market driven by short-covering by funds and managed accounts rather than any fundamental development that could provide a sustainable base for further gains. By the end of the day June had eased half of a penny to $4.693 and July had risen two-tenths of a penny to $4.763. June crude oil dropped 41 cents to $113.52/bbl.

May natural gas futures rose in active inventory report-driven trading Thursday. Government gas storage figures came in less than anticipated and prompted an immediate price advance.

Driven by North America’s shales, global merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions within the exploration and production (E&P) sector climbed to $45 billion in the first three months of the year, Evaluate Energy said Tuesday.

Prices were higher in all of the cash market Wednesday, driven primarily by stubborn wintry weather across Canada and much of the northern U.S. — even though the seasons officially transitioned into spring last Sunday — and secondarily by the previous day’s advance of 9.3 cents by April futures. And as a producer had suggested Tuesday, storage buying for price arbitrage opportunities (and maybe by some traders who just wanted to get a jump on the traditional injection season) likely helped boost demand further.

Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the midstream sector last year got back to the all-time high level of 2006. Nearly all (94%) of the activity last year was driven by spending on gas pipelines and gas gathering and processing facilities in the United States, and shale gas plays featured prominently in that activity, according to the “IHS Herold 2011 Global Midstream M&A Review.”

The natural gas oversupply bubble, driven by gigantic growth in shale gas, could spread around the world, becoming a game changer for almost everyone.

The natural gas oversupply bubble, driven by gigantic growth in shale gas, could spread around the world, becoming a game changer for almost everyone, according to Jim Duncan, director for market analysis at ConocoPhillips Gas and Power.