inside

Many U.S. oil and gas operators may view overseas demand as the best option for growth, but Canada continues to be the largest source of domestic energy imports and the second largest export destination, behind only Mexico, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Friday.

Facing a 13.3% national unemployment rate and the negative impacts of continuing Covid-19 mitigation efforts, President Trump on Thursday signed an executive order (EO) directing federal agencies to “take all reasonable measures to speed infrastructure investments and to speed other actions in addition to such investments that will strengthen the economy and return Americans to work,” including setting aside some Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Policy Act restrictions.

Natural gas futures crept up early Thursday following a smaller-than-expected storage injection, but significant momentum proved difficult to gather amid ongoing demand uncertainty and the specter of a tropical storm nearing the Gulf Coast. The July Nymex contract traded in a narrow range of gains and losses throughout the day and settled at $1.822/MMBtu, up one-tenth of a cent day/day. August rose two-tenths of a cent to $1.917.

The U.S. rig count dropped another 17 units to fall to 284 for the week ending Friday as the latest Baker Hughes Co. (BKR) numbers showed domestic drilling activity still searching for a bottom even after months of retrenchment.

The U.S. natural gas rig count fell one unit to 76 for the week ending Friday (June 5), while further oil drilling declines showed domestic upstream activity still searching for a bottom even after months of retrenchment, according to the latest figures from Baker Hughes Co. (BKR).

U.S. crude futures rallied on Friday amid recovering demand and reports of an impending agreement by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, aka OPEC-plus, to extend May and June output cuts through July.

A roundup of news and commentary from NGI’s LNG Insight

Reduced oil and gas production in the Permian Basin, combined with record-low levels of completions activity, should lead to historically low levels of gas flaring in the last half of 2020, according to Rystad Energy.

Editor’s Note: NGI’s Mexico Gas Price Index, a leader tracking Mexico natural gas market reform, is offering the following column by Eduardo Prud’homme as part of a regular series on understanding this process.