natural gas

Activist fund Relational Investors LLC, helmed by former T. Boone Pickens lieutenants, is becoming the biggest shareholder in Magnum Hunter Resources Inc. (MHR) with a 15% stake after investing $150 million.

U.S. natural gas production was 2.38 Tcf in February, up from 2.31 Tcf in February 2013, continuing a ramp-up that resulted in a record 30.17 Tcf production total in 2013, according to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latestMonthly Energy Review(MER).

Dominion Resources Inc. has recently begun talking about a preliminary idea to pipe Marcellus/Utica shale gas from West Virginia, through Virginia to southern North Carolina via a pipeline that would be called the Dominion Southeast Reliability Project.

ExxonMobil Corp. CEO Rex Tillerson made a serious and thoughtful effort Wednesday to make the case that the company is just as concerned about climate change as the most rabid protester.

Several energy industry trade associations including the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the American Gas Association (AGA) joined other entities to urge the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) amend swaps rules enacted by the Dodd Frank Financial Reform Act, arguing the rules in their current form pose a significant financial burden to the industry.

The U.S. railroad industry a few short years ago wasn’t involved in the unconventional oil and gas revolution, but major rail operators that include BNSF are now gearing up to move a lot more crude oil, a senior executive said last week at the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference in Bismarck, ND.

Chevron Corp. shareholders on Wednesday rejected for the fifth year in a row a proposal to disclose more information about unconventional drilling operations.

Physical natural gas for Thursday delivery rose again in screen-directed trading on Wednesday. Nearly all points saw gains from a nickel or more in the Gulf to double-digit advances in the Great Lakes, Marcellus, Mid-Atlantic and Appalachia. There was little weather inspiration, and much of the gains mirrored the gains posted by the expired June futures contract. At the close June had settled at $4.619, up 11.4 cents, while July finished 10.4 cents higher at $4.615. July crude oil tumbled $1.39 to $102.72/bbl.

Physical gas for Wednesday delivery jumped in Tuesday’s trading as Memorial Day warmth was forecast to give way to temperatures more representative of April. From the Marcellus up through New England, hefty double-digit gains were the rule, but nearly all points were solidly in the black.