Driving

Low natural gas prices may be driving numerous producers to shift their focus to oil production; however, results from a recent executive survey released last week suggest that the country’s energy future will be more closely linked with natural gas than was previously thought.

Low natural gas prices may be driving numerous producers to shift their focus to oil production; however, results from a recent executive survey suggest that the country’s energy future will be more closely linked with natural gas than was previously thought.

Natural gas futures bulls saw the red of the matador’s cape Tuesday morning and charged, driving the October contract well past the heights of Monday’s rally. However, almost all of the day’s gains were given back in the last hour of the regular session as the prompt-month contract closed at $3.320, up only 2.3 cents from Monday’s finish.

Soft gas demand due to a weak economy and mild weather is driving the industry through what could be a belly-busting storage injection season with record inventories quite possible. Whatever pain is to come for producers will emanate first from full caverns in the producing region, analysts at Barclays Capital said last Tuesday.

Soft gas demand due to a weak economy and mild weather is driving the industry through what could be a belly-busting storage injection season with record inventories quite possible. Whatever pain is to come for producers will emanate first from full caverns in the producing region, analysts at Barclays Capital said Tuesday.

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, whose policies have been blamed for driving some producers out of the state, on Thursday told an industry crowd that the natural gas industry was “vital” to the state’s future. “Just so there’s no mistake, let me say this very clear: It is a permanent part of the new energy economy. It’s not a bridge fuel. It’s not a transition fuel. It is a mission-critical fuel for us to get to where we need to get to in meeting increasing energy demands and decreasing emissions at the same time.”

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, whose policies have been blamed for driving some producers out of the state, on Thursday told an industry crowd that the natural gas industry was “vital” to the state’s future. “Just so there’s no mistake, let me say this very clear: It is a permanent part of the new energy economy. It’s not a bridge fuel. It’s not a transition fuel. It is a mission-critical fuel for us to get to where we need to get to in meeting increasing energy demands and decreasing emissions at the same time.”

Public sector fleet vehicles will be driving on the equivalent of $2/gallon fuel through the partnership of Newport Beach, CA-based FirmGreen Inc. and the Waste Authority of Central Ohio, which opened a Green Energy Center near Columbus, OH, on Monday.

U.S. natural gas production points toward “supply outrunning demand growth” in 2009 and 2010, driving prices somewhat lower compared with the current forward curve, Barclays Capital energy analysts said in a research report.