Individual

Bowing to pressure from customers, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) decided Monday to give in to individual customers who insist that they cannot tolerate — for health or other reasons — smart meters, recommending to state regulators that a proposed opt-out provision be expanded to include use of analog meters.

The Cana-Woodford, Eagle Ford and Bakken/Sanish/Three Forks plays continued to lead the activity growth in unconventional fields over the last year as oil and gas producers put more weight on liquids-rich shales to take advantage of higher commodity prices found in oil and natural gas liquids. Conversely, some of the nation’s dry gas shales have seen the largest drilling activity declines as natural gas prices remain below $4/MMBtu for much of the country.

The record-breaking drought gripping Texas has the state’s reservoir/aquifer managers eyeing water levels and issuing warnings. But lower water reserves apparently have not seriously affected oil and gas activities in the state, at least not yet.

The number of rigs targeting oil and natural gas in U.S. tight sands and shale plays saw a significant drop during the week ending May 20, while oil and gas prices hovered in their recent comfort zones, according to NGI’s Shale Daily Unconventional Rig Count.

With a general perception that it is a cleaner industry relative to individual motor vehicles, the mass transit industry is increasingly the competitive battleground for transportation fuel providers — traditional gasoline and diesel, along with the upcoming alternatives, such as natural gas, biofuels and hybrid electric technology. Within the sector, some options are cleaner than others, according to a research report by Boulder, CO-based Pike Research LLC.

Continuing the downward momentum from the previous week (see Shale Daily, April 11), the number of rigs drilling for oil and gas in U.S. unconventional plays dropped by another 1% for the week ending April 15, according to NGI’s Shale Daily Unconventional Rig Count.

What a difference a year makes in shale gas drilling. NGI’s Shale Daily Unconventional Rig Count dramatically demonstrates the ascendance of oil and oily gas shale plays as the Bakken Shale/Sanish/Three Forks claimed the top spot on the chart for the greatest number of active rigs with 170, up from 102 and third place a year ago.

Despite significant differences in the amount of natural gas marketed by individual companies and the effects of some major acquisitions, there was a 7.6 Bcf/d increase in the total amount of natural gas transacted by the 24 marketers that participated in both NGI’s 3Q2010 Top North American Gas Marketers Ranking and NGI’s 3Q2009 survey.

Despite significant differences in the amount of natural gas marketed by individual companies and the effects of some major acquisitions, there was a 7.6 Bcf/d increase in the total amount of natural gas transacted by the 24 marketers who participated in both NGI’s 3Q2010 Top North American Gas Marketers Ranking and NGI’s 3Q2009 survey.