Expected

Royal Dutch Shell plc said Wednesday capital spending this year — following its combination with BG plc — would be about $33 billion, $2 billion less than in 2015 but 45% less for the combined companies’ spend in 2015. With thetie-up, about 10,000 staff and contractors are also expected to lose their jobs.

Debuting its 2017 forecasts with the release of its Short-Term Energy Outlook Tuesday, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) is projecting modest gains for both crude oil and natural gas benchmarks to arrive next year as the market slowly adjusts to the current oversupply.

Veresen Inc. said the Cutbank Ridge Partnership (CRP), a joint venture of Encana Corp. (60%) and Mitsubishi Corp. (40%), has approved the company’s proposed $715 million Tower rich natural gas processing plant in the Montney Shale in northeast British Columbia (BC).

December natural gas is expected to open a penny higher Tuesday morning at $2.31 as traders factor in only nominal expected occurrences of colder temperatures and traders look for a spot to initiate short positions. Overnight oil markets were mixed.

November natural gas is seen opening a penny lower Friday morning at $2.42 as traders see a market facing mild temperature conditions, anticipated plump, if not burdensome, supplies, and a lack of any meaningful production response. Overnight oil markets were mixed.

Australia’s Ichthys LNG Project, led by Japan’s Inpex Corp., is expected to come online about 10 months later than previously planned and have about 6% greater capacity, Inpex said.

October natural gas is expected to open 2 cents higher Tuesday morning at $2.71 as traders factor in still-warmer temperature projections and lean toward a bullish posture. Overnight oil markets plummeted.

October natural gas is expected to open 3 cents higher Friday morning at $2.69 as traders balance a more intense weather outlook and the emergence of Tropical Storm Ericka. Overnight oil markets slumped.

The prospects for the onshore oil and natural gas pipelines construction business have been stung by the decline in commodity prices, but most of the project delays announced to date are almost exclusively in North America, according to Douglas-Westwood (DW).