Midcontinent

Cash natural gas prices on average fell 4 cents for weekend and Monday deliveries in Friday’s trading. Gains were posted in the Midwest and Midcontinent as lingering cold was expected to keep temperatures below normal. Eastern and New England locations fell as forecasters predicted a warming trend. At the close of futures trading, April had risen 4.7 cents to $3.629 and May was up 4.6 cents to $3.673. April crude oil rose 39 cents to $91.95/bbl.

As U.S. operators move onshore from the offshore, wellhead freeze-offs are becoming a bigger risk to natural gas supplies, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Tuesday in the Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO).

In an operations update Monday, San Antonio, TX-based Abraxas Petroleum Corp. said a recent Eagle Ford Shale well turned in solid initial performance. The company’s third well in the WyCross area has outperformed a previous top performer.

Oneok Partners LP Thursday launched plans to invest up to $500 million between now and 2015 to build additional natural gas liquids (NGL) infrastructure in some of its Midcontinent operations, with the bulk of the funds earmarked for the Williston Basin.

Despite the fact that a winter chill and storm were still battering much of the Northeast, Midcontinent and Mid-Atlantic, January natural gas futures expired on a negative note Thursday as some market watchers were beginning to question whether the United States might be in for a repeat performance of the overall weather mildness recorded during the 2011-2012 winter.

The physical market lost a dime on average Thursday, but it was a mixed performance with gains in producing regions such as the Gulf Coast, Midcontinent and Rockies unable to offset free-falling prices in the Northeast and East.

What explorers know about the Mississippian Lime formation could fill a book. What they don’t know about the Midcontinent play could fill a few more, industry experts said last week.

What explorers know about the Mississippian Lime formation could fill a book. What they don’t know about the Midcontinent play could fill a few more, industry experts said Wednesday.

Linde North America has upgraded its carbon dioxide (CO2) plants in Corpus Christi, TX, and Woodward, OK, to better serve the Midcontinent and Eagle Ford Shale regions with expanded CO2 availability. “Linde has brought these plants on stream to supply the surging demand for CO2 in the oil and gas industry,” said Lauren Porambo, CO2 product manager. “The use of CO2 in fracturing completions displaces the use of water, reduces formational damage and enhances well production.” CO2 is injected in a liquid state and converts to a gaseous state down-hole, mitigating formational damage and fluid on formation, while enhancing well clean-up and flow-back, Linde said. Conventional liquid pumps are used, so service companies require no specialized equipment.