List

Almost 20% of the top 100 companies ranked on the latest Fortune Global 500 list are major oil and natural gas producers, with some familiar U.S.-based names among the leaders.

Oilfield services giant Nabors Industries Ltd. on Tuesday warned that operating results for the second quarter will fall below consensus estimates because of a “pronounced” shortfall in the pressure pumping and top drive completion service lines.

President Obama’s announcement Tuesday of a sweeping climate change initiative, which some are calling a “war on coal,” will add to the list of departing coal-fired power plants and could result in demand for an incremental 4-8 Bcf/d of natural gas by 2020, one analyst estimated (see Daily GPI, June 26).

Strong natural gas prices could but dry gas drilling back on the “to do” list for Devon Energy Corp. later this year, CEO John Richels said last week.

BP plc’s decision to rethink one of its long-planned mega-projects in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is one of a growing list of big industry projects that today are being reconfigured because of cost overruns and changing market conditions.

BP plc’s decision to rethink one of its long-planned mega-projects in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is one of a growing list of big industry projects that today are being reconfigured because of cost overruns and changing market conditions.

Interior Deputy Secretary David Hayes, who many speculated was on the short list to succeed former Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, has said that he expects to leave the department at the end of June. After serving more than four years in the Obama administration, he plans to serve as senior fellow at the Hewlett Foundation and teach at Stanford Law School in the fall. “I am grateful for his wisdom and guidance to me throughout this transition, and I wish him the best as he heads out to California for this next chapter,” said newly appointed Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.

A long list of legislation that targeted the natural gas industry in West Virginia failed to receive enough support from lawmakers before they adjourned last Saturday. However, the House of Delegates enacted a series of resolutions, perhaps offering a glimpse of things to come.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) joined a growing list of analysts raising 2013 natural gas price forecasts, saying in a Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) released Tuesday that it expects spot prices, which averaged $2.75/MMBtu at the Henry Hub last year, to climb to an average of $3.52 this year and $3.60 in 2014.