Helped

At the dawn of the shale age, “location, location, location” matters as much to natural gas storage projects as it ever did. But robust supplies from shales have helped deflate the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) forward curve, leaving storage developers to ask, “Where did my spread go?”

Renewed vigor to tap into North America’s shales helped Schlumberger Ltd. to more than double its quarterly earnings, the oilfield services giant said Friday.

At the dawn of the shale age, “location, location, location” matters as much to natural gas storage projects as it ever did. But robust supplies from shales have helped deflate the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) forward curve, leaving storage developers to ask, “Where did my spread go?”

The modest Midwest warming trend that had helped boost most of the market slightly a day earlier proved to be short-lived, and so did the small rally as prices fell at a majority of locations Thursday.

Royal Dutch Shell plc last week posted a solid 15% increase in quarterly profits from a year ago, and growth from new natural gas projects helped to lift overall output by 5%.

Royal Dutch Shell plc on Thursday posted a solid 15% increase in quarterly profits from a year ago, and growth from new natural gas projects helped to lift overall output by 5%.

The hot weather that had helped sustain moderate price increases during the previous two days was either already fading to some degree or about to do so in key northern market areas Thursday. The result was mixed price movement in trading for Friday flows, with mostly modest gains and losses close to evenly divided.

A proposed severance tax on natural gas extraction and a now-scrapped moratorium on drilling on state lands have helped to line the pockets of some Pennsylvania politicians with gas industry dollars, liberal watchdog group Common Cause said in a report on campaign contributions and lobbying by the industry.

A proposed severance tax on natural gas extraction and a now-scrapped moratorium on drilling on state lands have helped to line the pockets of some Pennsylvania politicians with gas industry dollars, liberal watchdog group Common Cause said in a report on campaign contributions and lobbying by the industry.