Leading

The Eagle Ford Shale continued to drive results for Houston-based Rosetta Resources Inc. last year, leading the company to record production, reserves and cash flow.

For the fourth year in a row, investor groups are calling on leading U.S. natural gas producers to disclose information about how they manage and measure the risks associated with unconventional drilling operations. Some explorers also were urged to disclose fugitive emissions from gas transmission.

Oil, the latest growth engine of the U.S. unconventional boom, is spurting up from the ground at an exceptional pace, which is leading many operators to rethink where — and how — they want to deliver their reserves for the best prices.

In a move timed to coincide with the commencement of the U.S. Conference of Mayors Thursday in Washington, DC, Tulsa, OK, Mayor Dewey Bartlett is leading a charge for the exportation of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Cash prices on average fell 14 cents Tuesday for Wednesday delivery with the Northeast leading the charge lower. Losses were widespread and occurred at all trading points. The market is being forced to take on differing weather forecasts with some anticipating a widespread cold carrying all the way to the East Coast, while others are more mild. At the close, February was 4.8 cents lower at $3.218 and March had lost 4.7 cents to $3.234. February crude oil shed 4 cents to $93.15/bbl.

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.

U.S. hydraulic fracturing (fracking) capacity utilization has fallen by almost one-third since January, and all of the major domestic plays are in a “negative frack pricing environment,” according to PacWest Consulting Partners.

The volume of natural gas pipeline capacity changing hands among the 20 leading trading companies during 2012 was up 123% over the 2011 level, exceeding 14.8 Bcf/d and marking the third consecutive annual increase, Capacity Center said last week.

The volume of natural gas pipeline capacity changing hands among the 20 leading trading companies during 2012 was up 123% over the 2011 level, exceeding 14.8 Bcf/d and marking the third consecutive annual increase, Capacity Center said Monday.