Largely

California lawmakers on Thursday rejected an industry-opposed bill (SB 1054) on hydraulic fracturing (fracking), but a second fracking measure (AB 591) is still alive.

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin signed a bill that calls for a ban on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on Wednesday, a largely symbolic gesture but one that makes the Green Mountain State the first in the nation to outlaw the practice.

The physical market overall was largely unchanged Friday although points in the Northeast skidded on forecasts of mild weather. Prices across the Midwest and the Gulf showed no more that a couple of pennies’ movement either way. At the close of futures trading June had risen 2.2 cents to $2.509 and July was up by 2.0 cents to $2.589. June crude oil fell 95 cents to $96.13/bbl.

Houston-based Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. posted records during the first quarter for natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGL) and oil production as well as chart-topping revenue, largely thanks to the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas and the Barnett Shale in North Texas. Meanwhile, Marcellus Shale activities are ramping up.

A joint health assessment in a Colorado oil and natural gas field has concluded that air pollution-spurred health concerns have to be added to the environmental precautions surrounding well development and, more specifically, hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

Unfavorable federal energy policies are largely to blame for the continuing decline in oil and natural gas leasing, permitting and new drilling on western lands from peak activity in 2007-2008, according to a new report commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute (API). The decline in activity on western lands was first detected in 2009-2010 and has carried over into 2011.

Unfavorable federal energy policies are largely to blame for the continuing decline in oil and natural gas leasing, permitting and new drilling on western lands from peak activity in 2007-2008, according to a new report commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute (API). The decline in activity on western lands was first detected in 2009-2010 and has carried over into 2011.

January natural gas managed a third straight day of nominal gains Thursday as traders largely discounted storage data that showed an ever increasing surplus with no end to the above-average increases in sight. At the close January had risen 1.4 cent to $3.169 and February had risen 0.8 cent to $3.206. February crude oil added 86 cents to $99.53/bbl.

The ramifications of California’s natural gas transmission pipeline rupture and explosion last year are still largely unknown until federal and state efforts to address stepped up safety measures are fully fleshed out, two gas industry analysts at Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) told NGI Monday.