Farther

There are more than oil/gas roughnecks benefiting from the growing boom in the Marcellus shale play; Pennsylvania banks are positioning themselves to share in the rewards, according to a report published in late June by an Arlington, VA-based investment bank, FBR Capital Markets.

The prolific Barnett Shale natural gas field, second only to the San Juan Basin in New Mexico, appears to extend much farther south than previously estimated, EOG Resources Inc. CEO Mark Papa said Wednesday. And based on its success in the Texas shale, Papa said EOG is going to focus on discovering new plays amenable to horizontal drilling — a key driver in the Barnett’s growth.

With Hurricane Katrina altering its path farther west into the Gulf of Mexico over the weekend, natural gas and petroleum futures felt the wrath in Sunday overnight Access trading and again on Monday. The expiring September natural gas contract hit a new all-time commodity high of $12.070 in Access, eclipsing the previous high of $11.899, which was set during a spike on Feb. 25, 2003.

Exploration in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is going farther and deeper in its quest for more oil and natural gas, and the efforts are paying off, according to a report issued last week by the Minerals Management Service (MMS). By the end of 2004, gas production from the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM) grew to 3.9 Bcf/d, while oil output reached 922,000 bbl/d.

Exploration in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is going farther and deeper in its quest for more oil and natural gas, and the efforts are paying off, according to a new report by the Minerals Management Service (MMS). By the end of 2004, gas production from the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM) grew to 3.9 Bcf/d, while oil output reached 922,000 bbl/d.

Prices for the weekend were crashing faster and farther Fridaythan they had run up the day before. Declines that were often inthe area of 20 cents left many points not far above Octoberindexes.