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North American explorers aren’t going to let a little thing like weak natural gas prices get in the way of record spending plans in 2012, a recent survey by Barclays Capital has found.

North American explorers aren’t going to let a little thing like weak natural gas prices get in the way of record spending plans in 2012, a new survey by Barclays Capital has found.

Tapping shale natural gas reserves — even when accounting for the challenges of hydraulic fracturing — is worth the risk, a majority of those polled told a recent survey. And eight out of 10 respondents said they link natural gas development with job creation and economic revival.

Shale natural gas has dramatically transformed the outlook for U.S. energy supplies and is having “profound” economic impacts on creating jobs and stimulating growth, as well as bolstering tax revenue and reducing consumer energy costs, according to a study by IHS Global Insight.

January natural gas futures posted a double-digit loss Monday as traders acknowledged a low volatility price environment and little incentive for end-users to step up to the plate and lock in prices. At the close January was down 12.3 cents to $3.461 and February also had shed 12.3 cents to $3.490.

The energy industry has little confidence that the Obama administration will revise its proposed five-year offshore leasing plan to include potentially prolific areas that historically have been off-limits, an official with the American Petroleum Institute (API) said last Tuesday.

The industry has little confidence that the Obama administration will revise its proposed five-year offshore leasing plan to include potentially prolific areas that historically have been off-limits, an official with the American Petroleum Institute (API) said Tuesday.

Two transactions to monetize a portion of Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s 1.5 million net acres in the Utica Shale of Ohio are expected to give the independent about $3.4 billion in proceeds, CEO Aubrey McClendon said late Thursday.

Other than some frigid conditions in the western half of Canada and along some parts of the northern U.S. border, the cash market had little in the near term on which to hang a hatful of higher prices Monday. The return of industrial load from a weekend off was about the only immediate minor offset to generally cool to moderate temperatures in most areas.