natural gas data

Unconventional natural gas in the onshore likely will keep U.S. prices low until 2020, but it may not translate to climate benefits or an improved economy, according to an elite group of industry, academic and scientific experts.

In the wake of the news Friday that the Energy Information Administration (EIA) would cease operations and furlough its staff thanks to the U.S. Government shutdown, traders and analysts are waiting to see how the natural gas futures market deals with the lack of a weekly storage inventory update.

The Marcellus Shale and other shale plays may continue to lead the U.S. natural gas renaissance in the near term, but the Rockies are primed for a resurgence later in this decade, a WPX Energy Inc. executive said last week.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Energy Information Administration (EIA), one of the few governmental agencies that was able to stay open during the beginning days of the shutdown because it had reserve funds, said it would cease operations and furlough its staff at the end of the day Friday.

Canadian hopes to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) rely on oil prices to stay high and overseas supply contracts to uphold value parity between the two energy commodities, an industry analyst said Thursday.

President Obamahas accused Republicans of being responsible for restricting oil and natural gas production on federal lands, rather than Democrats, during the government shutdown (seeNGI,Oct. 7). “You know, the Republicans say they’re very concerned about drilling,” the president said at a news briefing. “They say Obama’s been restricting oil [and gas] production, despite the fact that…production is at its highest levels it has been in years and is continuing to zoom up. They say, you know, the Democrats are holding back oil production in this country.”Senate Energy and Natural Resources CommitteeRepublicans quickly fired back. “Forgive us for thinking it slightly insincere of the president to suddenly claim concern about federal oil and natural gas permitting.” The shutdown, which went into effect on Oct. 1, has halted theInteriorDepartment’s processing of onshore permitting and slowed processing for offshore drilling. “So why would the Republicans say to the folks who are interested in drilling for oil, sorry, we can’t let those things be processed…That doesn’t make sense,” Obama said.

The stars are aligning for “much improved” natural gas prices next year and beyond, said First Energy Capital’s Martin King, vice president for institutional research, and it’s no time for complacent thinking.

The Lone Star State’s Rainy Day Fund purse has grown fat from oil and gas tax revenues, and that’s expected to continue as Texas drillers drive production to new heights, according to the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association (TTARA).

TheSenate Energy and Natural Resources Committeevoted out two nominations for high-ranking appointments to theDepartment of Interiorand theDepartment of Energy(DOE), clearingMichael L. Connor, currently commissioner of theBureau of Reclamation, to be the Deputy Secretary of Interior, succeedingDavid Hayes. Prior to becoming commissioner in 2009, Connor served as counsel to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, where he managed legislation for theBureau of ReclamationandU.S. Geological Survey.The committee also favorably reported the nomination ofElizabeth M. Robinsonto be the undersecretary of energy, filling one of the top positions under Energy SecretaryErnest Moniz. Prior to coming to DOE, Robinson was CFO atNASA, and a White House budget officer. The nominations aren’t likely to be voted on by the full Senate until Congress ends the stalemate over the federal government shutdown and the debt ceiling crisis.