Figured

A relatively short trip from the Haynesville Shale and about as old as the Eagle Ford, the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS) — which stretches from Texas through Louisiana and into Mississippi — could right now be considered the “penny stock” of the shale plays. Those who get in early will get in cheaply, but they’ll have to stomach some risk as the play is not yet a sure thing like its more mature peers.

Shale plays figured prominently in the third quarter performance of Denver-based QEP Resources as the company grew production by about 20% from the year-ago period.

Some sources figured the screen’s steep drop Friday afternoonwould have a depressing effect on cash numbers Monday, but theyreckoned without the heat that began blanketing the U.S. east ofthe Mississippi River over the weekend and continued through earlythis week.

FERC liked what it did with interconnections on the electricside so much that it figured why not try it out on natural gas. Andthat’s exactly what the Commission did last week — it issued anew policy for hooking up to the interstate gas pipeline grid.

FERC liked what it did with interconnections on the electricside so much that it figured why not try it out on natural gas. Andthat’s exactly what the Commission did yesterday — it issued anew policy for hooking up to the interstate gas pipeline grid.

A Gulf Coast producer figured it had to be “storm hype”outweighing a sharply lower gas futures screen and causing nearlyall cash markets to soar by a dime or more Monday. Even mild tocool temperatures and the additional negative influence of Novembercrude oil futures plunging by 78 cents to settle below $24/bbl forthe first time in weeks failed to avert substantial upticks forspot gas.

Some traders figured they might as well have taken off Tuesdayfor Martin Luther King Day; the cash market to which they returnedseemed about as quiet and low-key as it had been most of last week.Prices showed little variance from weekend numbers, with mostpoints registering as flat to less than a nickel up or down.

Sources figured it was only a matter of time before this week’swinter storm-related price hikes started to fade, and the time wasThursday. Softening was only slight at most points, however, andseveral registered as flat. The biggest drops of more than a nickeltended to occur in the markets that had seen the biggest increasesearlier in the week, such as Northeast citygates and NorthernNatural-demarc.