Growth

Analysts at U.S. Capital Advisors LLC (USCA) said utility stocks may have upside potential in the near future as the shale revolution continues, with more customers converting to natural gas, new construction rates returning to normal and the nation continuing its recovery from the 2008 recession.

The U.S. natural gas and oil industry should see higher and more sustainable growth over the coming decade as production growth and efficiency improvements create a paradigm shift, Raymond James & Associates Inc. analysts said Monday.

Schlumberger Ltd. CEO Paal Kibsgaard said this week the North American exploration and production (E&P) sector is facing mounting pressure to build free cash flow and profitability, even as it bucks up against stable oil and natural gas prices that “potentially remain range-bound for some time to come.”

The shale and light tight oil (LTO) supply revolution likely will begin expanding beyond North America before the end of the decade — sooner than expected — as several countries seek to replicate the U.S. success story, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Tuesday.

The United States is “beyond the golden age” for natural gas, and North America’s gas surfeit now is in “full swing,” the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Tuesday. China, meanwhile, is entering the golden age, while Mexico is a strong candidate in the future.

July natural gas is expected to open 3 cents higher Monday morning at $4.57 as traders focus on near-term warming and discount longer-term forecasts of seasonal weather. Overnight oil markets were mixed.

Pipeline exports of U.S. gas to Mexico doubled from 2009 to 2013, and they’re poised to double again from 2013 to 2018, driven by growing demand from Mexican industry and power generators and growing supply in the United States, according to the country’s energy ministry.

North American shale natural gas production will grow to 64 Bcf/d by 2022, led by the Marcellus Shale, which will be responsible for 17 Bcf/d of that total, and maybe more, according to a new analysis by Ziff Energy.

The nation's energy boom, stoked by technological advances both onshore and offshore, drove significant economic growth for the oil and gas industry, which also fueled a corresponding population boom in resource-rich areas such as North Dakota and Texas between 2007 and 2012, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.