Midcontinent

Investors with long positions in natural gas can take comfort in growing industrial sector demand, according to an industry veteran who spoke Monday in Chicago.

Houston-based Harvest Oil and Gas Corp., which has a natural gas-weighted asset base in formations across the Lower 48, posted significant year/year declines in production for the second quarter.

Energy activity was flat in the first quarter across much of the Rockies and the northern half of New Mexico, as the region’s exploration and production (E&P) companies said natural gas prices needed to average $3.02/MMBtu for drilling to be profitable, according to the Federal Reserve Bank (Fed) of Kansas City.

SandRidge Energy Inc. plans to boost oil production while spending less on capital in 2019, but it is devoting most of its operating cash flow to the North Park Basin in Colorado, where it anticipates finding thousands of potential drilling targets.

Denver-based Cimarex Energy Co. said it will cut its capital budget for 2019 and pivot to developing assets in the Permian Basin over the Midcontinent, but it won’t drop any rigs as it looks to grow its total production by double digits.

Midcontinent pure-player Gastar Exploration Inc. emerged from bankruptcy protection as a private company on Tuesday, after completing a financial restructuring and eliminating more than $350 million of debt and preferred equity obligations from its balance sheet.

Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline Inc. announced a nonbinding open season to gauge interest in two potential projects designed to serve Oklahoma’s stacked plays in the Midcontinent, including expanded market access through the Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America LLC (NGPL) pipeline system.

Cimarex Energy Co. said it plans to increase crude oil production up to 25% year/year (y/y) while Permian pure-player Parsley Energy Inc. has increased its spending plans and year-end production guidance to reflect shorter cycle times not seen since a wave of asset integrations.

Easily dispatchable resources including natural gas with carbon capture likely will be part of the Midcontinent’s future energy mix, but the region should “keep its options open and pursue several very low and zero-carbon options for power generation and storage” to achieve carbon reductions of 80-95% below 2005 levels by 2050, according to a new study.