Increasingly

The fortunes of the natural gas and chemicals industries are becoming increasingly intertwined, and they will be even more so if Royal Dutch Shell plc constructs a world-class ethane cracker in the heart of the Marcellus Shale. Such a plant would handle Shell’s equity ethane production and that of third parties. And it would be a Rust Belt job-creation engine.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued more Marcellus Shale drilling permits in September than in any other month of the year, but drilling slowed from summer highs.

As the natural gas landscape continues to be transformed by booming shale production and renewables emerge on a parallel path, gas industry stakeholders are increasingly focused on the concept of a “smarter,” more flexible gas delivery system along the lines of the electric industry smart grid. Eventually the two need to coalesce, according to a Gas Technology Institute (GTI) technical expert focused on the subject.

As the natural gas landscape continues to be transformed and renewables emerge on a parallel path, gas industry stakeholders are increasingly focused on the concept of a “smarter,” more flexible gas delivery system along the lines of the electric industry smart grid. Eventually the two need to coalesce, according to a Gas Technology Institute (GTI) technical expert focused on the subject.

Pennsylvanians are increasingly in favor of imposing a severance tax on natural gas production, according to a poll released Wednesday by the Center for Opinion Research (COR) at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA.

Pittsburgh’s CONSOL Energy Inc., which has increasingly been focused on its Appalachian natural gas operations, is selling Noble Energy Inc. half of its 663,350 net-acre leasehold in a portion of the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, including a half-stake in existing wells, under a multi-year transaction valued at $3.4 billion.

The Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania is generally divided into two regions, the northeast and the southwest, but increasingly the stretch of fairway between those regions is gaining prominence.

Pittsburgh’s CONSOL Energy Inc., which has increasingly been focused on its Appalachian natural gas operations, agreed Thursday to sell Noble Energy Inc. half of its 663,350 net-acre leasehold in a portion of the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, including a half-stake in existing wells, under a multi-year transaction valued at $3.4 billion.

Despite an increasingly bullish storage situation, July natural gas continued lower Friday as traders see a return of more mild summer weather. At the close July had fallen 8.7 cents to $4.325, which is 43.2 cents lower than the previous week’s close.