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Lower 48 gas production in January climbed 0.36 Bcf/d to a record 72.85 Bcf/d mostly on production gains in the “other states” category in the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Monthly Natural Gas Gross Production report. EIA said the other states contributed an increase of 0.38 Bcf/d, or 1.8%, partly due to continued drilling activity in the Marcellus Shale and Colorado. New Mexico output rose by 0.10 Bcf/d, or 2.8%. Louisiana posted the greatest production decrease at 0.16 Bcf/d, or minus 1.8%, as some operators reported curtailed production. In Texas production was flat compared with December’s level, which was revised to a 1.2% decline from November. Oklahoma’s January production fell by 0.6% from December. Production in the federal offshore Gulf of Mexico was flat with December. Wyoming was up 0.9%, and Alaska was up 3.4%.

The physical market slipped about a penny Thursday with quotes mostly about one or two cents on either side of unchanged. California points suffered a serious drubbing as a trio of factors combined to send points in the southern portion of the state reeling. Industrial users buying at index saw a market that did not look like it would turn around for several years and admitted any losses on the purchase of physical gas were made up by gains in the financial markets.

The cash market continued to slide lower Thursday with prices mostly dropping less than a nickel, except in the northeast, which recorded a handful of double-digit drops. Midwest points were only modestly lower, while a few spots in the Rockies and in California managed to tally gains.

Cash market averages Wednesday for Thursday delivery were mixed but mostly quiet, but operational issues raised prices at points in California. Futures markets drew to a mixed close as bulls continued to cling to technical support levels and bears awaited storage data expected to continue a trend of sub-par withdrawals.

Oil’s share of the global energy supply will continue to fall, with the slack picked up mostly by natural gas, Total SA exploration chief Yves-Louis Darricarrere said Tuesday.

Last year saw a transformation at Houston-based Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. as the company shifted from deriving its revenue mostly from natural gas to an equal reliance upon revenue from oil production, CEO Chip Johnson told financial analysts Tuesday. “We expect this trend to continue for the entire year of 2012 as we become increasingly weighted toward oil production,” he said.

Natural gas futures gained ground ahead of weekly government storage figures Wednesday, but cash market participants saw prices ease by mostly less than a dime, ecept for a few Northeast points which dropped by less than 15 cents. At the close of futures trading March rose 1.7 cents to $2.643 and April added 0.2 cent to $2.775. April crude oil gained 3 cents to $106.28/bbl.

Officials with the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Energy Information Administration (EIA) said they plan to publish their annual report on proved reserves in the Marcellus Shale by spring. However, budget cuts last year temporarily forced the agency to cut the report.

Physical gas prices rose Tuesday for Wednesday delivery mostly between a couple of pennies to just shy of a dime, except for eastern points, some of which declined by nearly 20 cents. Futures caught a bid as rumors of more production cuts circulated and nuclear outages posted a five-year high. March rose 10.1 cents to $2.532 and April gained 8 cents to $2.700. March crude oil slipped 17 cents to $100.74/bbl.