Growing

ConocoPhillips is on track for a “new era of development” in the United States, fueled by a growing list of discoveries in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and a solid portfolio in some onshore unconventional plays, the exploration and production (E&P) chief said Thursday.

With production growing 39% in the Ardmore Basin’s Woodford Shale and a 75% increase in Bakken output, ExxonMobil Corp. plans to forge ahead with liquids and crude oil unconventional opportunities in North America, and keep its substantial natural gas prospects for better days, the investor relations chief said Thursday.

With the price of gold now down nearly 30% from its record September 2011 high of $1,920.30/oz to around $1,377, analysts looking for a commodity to be bullish about have turned their focus to natural gas as a new commodity “safe haven,” thanks to the shale revolution.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) joined a growing list of analysts raising 2013 natural gas price forecasts, saying in a Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) released Tuesday that it expects spot prices, which averaged $2.75/MMBtu at the Henry Hub last year, to climb to an average of $3.52 this year and $3.60 in 2014.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) joined a growing list of analysts raising 2013 natural gas price forecasts, saying in a Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) released Tuesday that it expects spot prices, which averaged $2.75/MMBtu at the Henry Hub last year, to climb to an average of $3.52 this year and $3.60 in 2014.

The federal government wants to keep closer tabs on the “fast-growing” natural gas development in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania and Utica Shale in Ohio.

As one of the hottest growing hydrocarbon areas in North America, North Dakota’s legislature has been immersed this year with various proposals to deal with oil and natural gas-related issues. So far, the stakeholders embroiled in the debate are not sure which, if any, bills will make it through the legislative meat grinder.

As one of the hottest growing hydrocarbon areas in North America, North Dakota’s legislature has been immersed this year with various proposals to deal with oil and natural gas-related issues. So far, the stakeholders embroiled in the debate are not sure which, if any, bills will make it through the legislative meat grinder.

Columbia Pipeline Group is seeking to expand the eastern side of its Columbia Gas Transmission system to provide Marcellus Shale gas to growing markets in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. It is also pursuing an expansion of the western side of its system to give producers an additional path out of the Marcellus/Utica region and to help avoid continued basis erosion.