Indications

Indications from a meeting last week of the Marcellus Shale Safe Drilling Initiative Advisory Commission in Annapolis are that Maryland will continue to chart a cautious course for exploiting its unconventional energy resources, said commission member and Republican State Sen. George Edwards, who represents three counties in western Maryland.

Indications from a meeting on Monday of the Marcellus Shale Safe Drilling Initiative Advisory Commission in Annapolis are that Maryland will continue to chart a cautious course for the exploitation of its unconventional energy resources, said commission member and Republican State Sen. George Edwards, who represents three counties in western Maryland.

Natural gas cash prices were mixed Tuesday as traders balanced news of a pipeline explosion in the Marcellus Shale with no indications of supportive weather developments on the horizon. While most regions saw little change in either direction average in the Midcontinent and Midwest mostly slipped, while the Northeast ranf up some significant dollar-plus gains. January futures skidded another 4.8 cents to $3.412 and February slumped 4.6 cents to $3.441. January crude oil rose 23 cents to $85.79/bbl.

Both futures and cash markets fell as low demand and indications of a weakening economy prompted hefty declines.

Early indications point to natural gas development having a positive impact on state tax collections in counties in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale region, according to an analysis by Pennsylvania State University researchers.

Weak guidance from Tuesday’s screen kept almost all cash points headed lower on Wednesday despite indications that the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season might soon arrive.

With cooling demand starting to wane in parts of the West and North, Friday’s continuation of price hikes at most points were based mostly on two previous days of screen strength, although power generation load remained fairly substantial overall. Reflecting the moderate weakening of weather fundamentals and the drop in industrial demand associated with a weekend, Friday’s upticks were smaller than Thursday’s, and a few Midcontinent and Rockies points were flat.

Despite indications that severe cold might linger in the Northeast and become more entrenched in the Midwest, prices continued to fall throughout most of the cash market Thursday. But several points — mostly in the Rockies — were flat to up slightly, and Westcoast Station 2 managed a gain of nearly C20 cents despite the pipeline’s imbalance tolerances continuing to encourage maximum drafting.

While giving no indications that his own company plans to put a “for sale” sign in front of its headquarters, Mayo Shattuck, CEO of Maryland-based Constellation Energy, last Tuesday told a gathering of investment professionals that he expects consolidation in the overall power industry to accelerate in the years ahead.