Little

An analysis of natural gas market and gas patch dynamics by analysts at Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) yields little reason to be excited about dry natural gas production. And ongoing low natural gas prices won’t be much of a catalyst for opportunistic mergers and acquisitions (M&A), one S&P credit analyst said Wednesday.

Natural gas is little more than an afterthought in a recent Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) report that recommends a combination of distributed generation and demand-side resources be applied as soon as possible to make up for the continuing outage at the 2,200 MW San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (Songs) along the Southern California coast.

With markets still a little off kilter after Hurricane Sandy left a path of destruction Monday, natural gas cash quotes averaged 4 cents higher Tuesday for Wednesday delivery with double-digit gains at Midwest and Rockies points offsetting flat Gulf quotes and a number of declines in the Northeast. At the close of trading December futures had slipped 11.2 cents to $3.691 and January was 10.8 cents lower at $3.824. December crude oil was 14 cents higher at $85.68/bbl.

Tulsa, OK-based Unit Corp. said Friday its petroleum subsidiary has closed a previously announced sale of a little more than one-third of its interest in Bakken Shale properties to QEP Energy for $228 million. The deal was final as of July 1, 2012.

Sidewinder Drilling Inc., a privately held upstart that’s been in the unconventional drilling game for a little more than a year, on Tuesday said it had a $242 million definitive offer on the table for Fort Worth, TX-based Union Drilling Inc., which operates across the U.S. onshore.

Workers returning to offshore oil and gas facilities across the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Friday were finding little or no damage as a result of Hurricane Isaac, according to several major GOM producers.

Workers returning to offshore oil and gas facilities across the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Friday were finding little or no damage as a result of Hurricane Isaac, according to several major GOM producers.

Erie, CO, officials voted 6-1 Monday night to end a six-month moratorium on new oil and natural gas drilling after securing agreements with producers that place stricter regulations on their operations.

The Interior Department Wednesday ended its overhaul of offshore safety practices brought about by Deepwater Horizon disaster a little more than two years ago, issuing a final rule on requirements for safety equipment, well control systems and blowout prevention (BOP) practices.