Expecting

Investors expecting dour third quarter earnings from Dow Chemical Co. one day after the company reported plans to cut approximately 2,400 jobs were given a bit of a surprise Wednesday as the chemical giant reported better-than expected earnings, thanks in part to abundant and low-priced natural gas.

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is expecting to hold its annual sale of oil and gas lease tracts in the Beaufort Sea, North Slope and North Slope Foothills on Nov. 7. The sale area encompasses 14.7 million acres, an area the size of Massachusetts, Vermont and Connecticut combined.

Lower oil prices and rig counts will make for lower volumes and prices for natural gas liquids (NGL) for a while, analysts at Raymond James & Associates Inc. said Monday.

Record natural gas use by U.S. utilities is tightening supply/demand balances sooner than the market was expecting, setting the stage for natural gas bulls to come charging back, according to BNP Paribas.

When North American operators successfully used technology to tap into unconventional onshore natural gas reserves, it triggered a shift in the markets that has upended activity around the world, but where it leads is still a question to be answered, two long-time market watchers said Thursday.

Record natural gas use by U.S. utilities is tightening supply/demand balances sooner than the market was expecting, setting the stage for natural gas bulls to come charging back, according to BNP Paribas.

The large independent electricity generator has reactivated natural gas-fired plants in Texas expecting a profitable summer

Physical natural gas slipped about two cents nationwide Wednesday as weather forecasts continued to show moderation, and analysts were expecting the earliest start to the injection season since 2007. On average, eastern points were off about a penny and on the West Coast next-day deliveries shed two cents to a nickel. Bucking that trend was both the Henry Hub cash and futures markets. March physical deliveries at the Hub were up 2 cents to $2.21 and April natural gas futures added 2.5 cents to $2.360 at the close. May crude oil rose $1.20 to $107.27/bbl.

Drilling activity in the Marcellus Shale helped push production in the Lower 48 states to a 1.4% (0.96 Bcf/d) increase in October compared with the previous month, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).