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.

Physical natural gas trading at most points for the week ended Aug. 16 was limited to gains of less than a nickel. Only a handful of points drifted into the loss column, and the biggest gains were limited to the Northeast. Locations in the transportation and infrastructure-challenged Marcellus scored nearly $1 gains, with gas at Transco-Leidy Line rising 86 cents to $2.43 and deliveries on Tennessee Zone 4 Marcellus jumping 86 cents as well to $2.30. Regionally the Northeast led the pack with an advance of 23 cents to $3.19.

Two weeks after raising its U.S. natural gas price deck due to slightly better fundamentals, analysts with Fitch Ratings on Wednesday made the bold statement that they expect natural gas prices to be rangebound over the “next few years.”

The elephant named Marcellus that has been sitting on Northeast-Henry Hub basis isn’t about to move along, and what used to be a premium market will see trades discounted to the U.S. gas benchmark for a while, analysts at Credit Suisse said in a note Tuesday.

Pioneer Natural Resources Co.(Pioneer) andPioneer Southwest Energy Partners LP(Pioneer Southwest) have struck an agreement for their previously announced merger under which Pioneer Southwest would become a wholly owned subsidiary of Pioneer operating companyPioneer Natural Resources USA Inc.(seeShale Daily,May 13). The transaction is intended to consolidate the West Texas Midland Basin activities of the two companies and facilitate Pioneer’s plans to fully and optimally develop the area utilizing horizontal drilling. The combination is expected to provide organizational, operational and administrative efficiencies, Pioneer said. Pioneer Southwest’s public unitholders are to receive 0.2325 of a share of common stock of Pioneer per Pioneer Southwest common unit surrendered, plus a whole share of Pioneer common stock in lieu of any fractional share of Pioneer common stock otherwise issuable in the merger. The transaction is expected to result in 3.95 million additional shares of common stock being issued by Pioneer.

A heatwave in the Northeast in the middle of July led to regional wholesale gas and power price spikes, as well as near-record gas consumption by Northeast power generators. However, natural gas spot prices averaged $3.62/MMBtu at the Henry Hub during the month, marking a 21-cent decline from June, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

After capturing a healthy and growing share of Canadian natural gas consumption with shale production from the United States, exploration and production companies are poised to repeat the feat in oil markets.

President Obama’s tilt toward accepting the economic opportunities from U.S. natural gas abundance may have been in fits and starts, but the right-leaning oil and gas industry is finding a lot to praise today, industry officials said Wednesday.