Forced

After ignoring forecasts of the coming winter storm back on Monday, traders of physical natural gas were forced to face the music on Wednesday as the same system that brought a white Christmas to portions of Texas was still depositing a wintry mix of sleet and snow from Oklahoma through the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

Continued low prices for natural gas, which is the single largest source of revenue for Wyoming, have forced Gov. Matt Mead to ask state agencies to prepare budget cuts of up to 8%.

A drop in northern Pennsylvania stream flow levels once again has forced the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) to suspend water withdrawal permits for more than 22 companies holding 37 separate permits in Pennsylvania and New York. More than half of the companies affected are energy operators working in the Marcellus Shale.

The recent fire at the Lathrop natural gas compressor station in northeastern Pennsylvania, which forced a major Marcellus Shale producer to reroute gas supplies for several days, is highlighting a gap in pipeline safety legislation passed earlier this year.

The recent fire at the Lathrop natural gas compressor station in northeastern Pennsylvania, which forced a major Marcellus Shale producer to reroute gas supplies for several days, is highlighting a gap in pipeline safety legislation passed earlier this year.

Cequence Energy Ltd., a junior explorer based in Calgary, said low natural gas prices have forced it to curtail 1.8 MMcf/d of production in the Peace River Arch area of northwestern Alberta. The producer also has reduced its 2012 capital budget by almost two-thirds, to C$36 million from $100 million. Cequence now expects production through June to average 10,200 boe/d, down from a prior estimate of 12,000 boe/d. Five horizontal wells (gross) are to be drilled in the first six months of this year. “Maintaining our balance sheet while moderating our growth profile in the current low natural gas price environment will allow Cequence the flexibility to add to our existing asset base by capitalizing on new opportunities as they arise,” said CEO Paul Wanklyn. In addition to Peace River, Cequence also operates in the Deep Basin of Alberta, where it has a prospective gas leasehold in the Simonette-Kaybob formation. “The stacked, liquids‐rich targets at Simonette remain an excellent source of significant future production and reserves growth for Cequence, in an improved natural gas price environment,” said the CEO.

Earthquakes such as the one that forced a wastewater disposal well in Youngstown, OH, to be closed at the beginning of the year can be avoided if oil, natural gas and service companies are more knowledgeable of the local and regional geology, according to an energy expert.

Earthquakes such as the one that forced a wastewater disposal well in Youngstown, OH, to be closed at the beginning of the year can be avoided if oil, natural gas and service companies are more knowledgeable of the local and regional geology.

Weakness in the equity markets has forced Williams to revamp a plan that will create two stand-alone publicly traded companies from its exploration and production (E&P) business and natural gas pipeline unit, the Tulsa -based company said Tuesday.