Patterns

Supported by abundant unconventional natural gas and oil reserves, the United States and Canada will become “almost totally energy self-sufficient” by 2030, according to a new forecast by BP plc.

The variability of this winter’s weather patterns showed up in market reactions again Wednesday. Losses and gains were close to being evenly divided and mostly small, but they included several spikes in the Northeast. Flat numbers were frequent, especially in the Louisiana production area.

October natural gas fell again in uninspired trading that saw traders ascribe the losses to more mild weather patterns. October dropped 6.8 cents to $3.730 and November fell 6.5 cents to $3.820. November crude oil lost $1.00 to $85.92/bbl.

“Summer doldrums” appeared to be an apt description of Thursday’s cash market as few points budged much from their previous-day positions and weather patterns weren’t showing a great deal of change either. A large majority of points were flat to slightly softer despite forecasts of hot temperatures continuing into next week for most of the eastern two-thirds of the U.S.

There seemed to be some sameness in Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s market patterns, but it was sort of like looking at the price table in a mirror. The locations that had taken most of the falls Tuesday were in rally mode Wednesday, while the small increases that had dominated the rest of the market Tuesday fell by mostly greater amounts Wednesday.

Growing gas production from the Appalachian Basin’s Marcellus Shale will disrupt regional gas flow patterns and force Northeast gas prices downward, Bentek Energy LLC said in a new Market Alert. The firm predicted that Appalachian Basin production will range 4-6 Bcf/d by 2014 and that “the superior drilling economics of the Marcellus will allow Marcellus production to grow and will force production from other supply areas to shrink, leading to a major shift in U.S. gas flows and prices.”

Growing gas production from the Appalachian Basin’s Marcellus Shale will disrupt regional gas flow patterns and force Northeast gas prices downward, Bentek Energy LLC said in a new Market Alert. The firm predicted that Appalachian Basin production will range 4-6 Bcf/d by 2014.

Growing gas production from the Appalachian Basin’s Marcellus Shale will disrupt regional gas flow patterns and force Northeast gas prices downward, Bentek Energy LLC said in a new Market Alert. The firm predicted that Appalachian Basin production will range 4-6 Bcf/d by 2014.

Between now and the middle of next year 40 infrastructure projects in the Southeast/Gulf Coast region will shift natural gas flow patterns, disrupt regional pricing relationships and realign the value of transportation capacity across the most complex pipeline grid in North America, according to a new report from Bentek Energy LLC.