Observers

A Pennsylvania Senate committee moved Marcellus Shale impact fee legislation forward on Wednesday, but observers suggest that the move is mainly procedural and say there is still much work to be done.

December natural gas suffered a bruising double-digit loss Tuesday in what observers noted was at least a temporary joining of hands with free-falling petroleum and Greece-centric equity markets. At the close December had fallen 15.3 cents to $3.781 and January had retreated 13.6 cents to $3.920. December crude oil dropped $1.00 to $92.19/bbl; the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 297 points to 11,658, and the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index shed a whopping 35 points to 1,218.

Futures rebounded from Thursday’s decline on Friday as observers noted buying interest from the end-user community, and saw a bearish price pattern from last year that is not likely to repeat. At the close September had risen 4.8 cents to $3.940 and October was up 4.2 cents to $3.941. September crude oil eased 12 cents to $82.26/bbl.

Observers need look no further than ExxonMobil Corp.’s buyout of shale king XTO Energy Corp. in late 2009 to acknowledge that the integrated U.S. producers aren’t ceding North America’s unconventional oil and gas reservoirs to the independents.

Observers need look no further than ExxonMobil Corp.’s buyout of shale king XTO Energy Corp. in late 2009 to acknowledge that the integrated U.S. producers aren’t ceding North America’s unconventional oil and gas reservoirs to the independents.

Natural gas futures retreated as observers see the market poised to work lower as it backs off from the upper end of its recent trading range. With prices as high as they have been recently, it may be a good time to sell, they say. June futures fell 3.9 cents to $4.131 and July skidded 4.6 cents to $4.225. June crude oil shed 43 cents to $76.37.

March natural gas futures continued Monday’s advance and finished on the plus side of the trading ledger, but observers say the market still has some convincing to do before any resumption of the earlier uptrend can continue.

March natural gas futures continued Monday’s advance and finished on the plus side of the trading ledger, but observers say the market still has some convincing to do before any resumption of the earlier uptrend can continue.

Energy industry players and observers agree that California’s new global warming laws will have long-term economic and electricity price impacts, but there is no agreement on exactly how those impacts will unfold. It is still a question that will take months, if not years, to sort out.