Output

Infrastructure constraints during the second quarter put a crimp in SM Energy Co.’s operated Eagle Ford Shale output, prompting the Denver-based company to divert some capital to the Permian Basin, where getting production to market is easier for the time being. And a steep drop in net income pummeled the Denver-based producer’s shares.

U.S. net imports of natural gas fell 25% last year in the face of pushback from ballooning domestic supplies, thanks to the output of shale plays, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said.

U.S. net imports of natural gas fell 25% last year in the face of pushback from ballooning domestic supplies, thanks to the output of shale plays, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said.

Following 30 years of declining oil output in the Lower 48 states, the United States now is well on its way to becoming energy independent — a structural supply shift that promises to reach well beyond oil and natural gas stocks, analysts with Raymond James & Associates Inc. said in a note last week.

Following 30 years of declining oil output in the Lower 48 states, the United States now is well on its way to becoming energy independent — a structural supply shift that promises to reach well beyond oil and natural gas stocks, analysts with Raymond James & Associates Inc. said in a note Monday.

Shell Chemical LP has chosen a rural area outside of Pittsburgh as the potential location for a major petrochemical complex that could include an ethane cracker in the heart of the Marcellus Shale.

Although the announcement does not mean the company is committed to its plans for a “world-scale” facility just yet, it ends months of speculation about where Shell would locate the facility and the competition among the three states in the running (see Shale Daily, Dec. 5, 2011; Sept. 7, 2011; June 7, 2011).

Cimarex Energy Co. will spend $1.4-1.6 billion on capital expenditures (capex) in fiscal 2012, with nearly all of it devoted to drilling for oil and natural gas liquids (NGLs) in the Permian Basin and the Cana-Woodford Shale, company officials said Wednesday.

Robust output from the nation’s shale plays and relatively mild winter weather again are forcing energy analysts to trim their natural gas price forecasts. Bentek Energy LLC last week said it expects the market to set a new price floor of $1.94/Mcf this September.