enery prices

Exploration and production (E&P) companies remain enthusiastic about the U.S. onshore, in particular the Permian Basin, Niobrara formation, Utica Shale and the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS), based on observations at the recent EnerCom Consulting oil and natural gas conference, said two analyst teams who were there. However, Marcellus Shale pricing appears to be a “real concern for the buyside.”

The energy security risk faced by the United States as quantified by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce fell 6.6% last year from 2011, ending a two-year run of increases, thanks mainly to oil and natural gas production from shale plays, the Chamber’s Institute for 21st Century Energy said last week.

U.S. growth in natural gas for transportation, and the switch to natural gas from oil-based fuels by petrochemical companies, are two big reasons that domestic oil demand isn’t growing, according to Raymond James & Associates Inc.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported last week that while end-of-refill-season working natural gas storage levels are expected to be ample, inventories could enter November at the lowest level in three years.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported last week that while end-of-refill-season working natural gas storage levels are expected to be ample, inventories could enter November at the lowest level in three years.

While rail transport of crude oil is getting a lot of attention these days, railroads are playing a bigger part in the larger U.S. domestic energy expansion, as BNSF Railway Co.’s $4.3 billion capital budget for 2013 indicates.

Big Oil’s attempt to take over the North American onshore from U.S. independents so far hasn’t paid off as some would have imagined just a few years ago, with the majors still struggling to capture the kind of profits and production results they may have been anticipating.

For the week ending Aug. 23 physical natural gas prices nationally rose on by 18 cents to average $3.49, according to NGI’s National Spot Gas Average. All regions were up by double digits, and only a few points gained less than a dime.

Commercial support may emerge for a plan to revive a mining ghost town in northern British Columbia (BC) as another entry in the lineup of projects for exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Canada’s Pacific coast. Meanwhile, the number seven is a symbol of fortune and intelligence in China, and that luck is being pressed by the Asian-owned Woodfibre LNG project, the seventh to emerge for Canada’s west coast.