Indicator

Higher natural gas and oil resource estimates should continue through 2013 for several onshore unconventional areas, especially in “pockets of the Permian Basin,” the Niobrara formation, as well as the Eagle Ford and “super-rich” Marcellus and Utica shales, according to Credit Suisse.

The Texas Petro Index (TPI), an indicator of the health of the state’s oil and gas industry compiled by a Texas Alliance of Energy Producers economist, posted its first decline in two and a half years due to declining crude prices and continuing natural gas price weakness.

The Texas Petro Index (TPI), an indicator of the health of the state’s oil and gas industry compiled by a Texas Alliance of Energy Producers economist, posted its first decline in two and a half years due to declining crude prices and continuing natural gas price weakness.

As another indicator that declining natural gas liquids (NGL) prices are dragging down some bottom lines in the midstream sector, Enbridge Energy Partners LP said Tuesday it is lowering its full-year earnings projections to the $440-470 million range from earlier guidance of $510-$550 million.

As another indicator of what sub-$3 natural gas prices can produce, MDU Resources Group Inc. will be selling some of its gas assets this year — albeit small ones — and raising its proportional amount of oil production from its exploration and production (E&P) mix in the Bakken, Niobrara, Heath, Big Horn Basin and other shale plays, senior executives told analysts during the company’s 4Q2011 earnings conference call.

As another indicator of what sub-$3 natural gas prices can produce, MDU Resources Group Inc. will be selling some of its gas assets this year — albeit small ones — and raising its proportional amount of oil production from its exploration and production (E&P) mix in the Bakken, Niobrara, Heath, Big Horn Basin and other shale plays, senior executives told analysts on the company’s 4Q2011 earnings conference call Thursday.

To provide an early warning system for potential natural gas drilling incidents, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) on Tuesday said it would expand its network of electronic water quality monitors on streams that flow through the Marcellus Shale region of New York and Pennsylvania.

It’s no more than an early indicator now, but soon California’s oil/gas-rich and agricultural-based central valley may become a harbinger for America’s transition to the post-carbon age. A host of small alternative energy businesses are springing up in the oil and farm heartland of the state, along with a proposed cutting-edge carbon capture and storage (CCS) project that recently won a $308 million U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant from the stimulus package.

It’s no more than an early indicator now, but soon California’s oil/gas-rich and agricultural-based central valley may become a harbinger for America’s transition to the post-carbon age. A host of small alternative energy businesses are springing up in the oil and farm heartland of the state, along with a proposed cutting-edge carbon capture and storage (CCS) project that recently won a $308 million U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant from the stimulus package.