natural gas prices

Physical natural gas trading Thursday for Friday delivery was muted for much of the country, with gains or losses of a few pennies, except for in the Northeast, which saw another day of steep price drops. The real news Thursday was made over in the natural gas futures arena, where a record-setting storage withdrawal report opened the gates for the bulls.

Dozens of requests will be heard Wednesday and Thursday by the North Dakota Industrial Commission’s (NDIC) hearing panel, reviewing operator requests for increased well densities and spacing unit changes in the Bakken/Three Forks formation.

In an effort to reduce operating costs and emissions from oilsands mining in northern Alberta, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc has signed an agreement with Caterpillar Inc. to test a new engine and fuel mix using liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Steel manufacturer Nucor Corp. and its drilling partner, Encana Corp., have agreed to temporarily suspend drilling new natural gas wells, citing weak gas prices.

The Interior Department over the past couple of years has taken action, particularly in the offshore, to ensure that taxpayers receive a fair return on oil and natural gas produced on federal lands, but it has not taken similar steps onshore, according to a new report released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

The U.S. shale revolution and the abundance of cheap natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGL) and oil it provides are drawing industries back to the country. That is expected to continue, but there are risks to the growth story, analysts at Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) said in a recent note. Commodity prices and the potential for further regulation are the main things to watch.

Comstock Resources Inc. plans to spend $450 million on drilling and completions next year in its core South Texas Eagle Ford play, as well as it’s emerging East Texas Eagle Ford and in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS). All drill bits will be pointed at oil with no gas wells planned, the company said.

U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) has seized upon recent comments by Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz to urge the Obama administration to not allow export of U.S. crude oil.

Billing its plan to drill 45 Marcellus wells at the Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) a “flagship endeavor,” Consol Energy Inc. outlined plans on Tuesday to use electric engines to power both its vertical and horizontal drilling rigs in order to comply with federal environmental guidelines.