Denver-based St. Mary Land & Exploration Co. plans to reduce its onshore U.S. rig count to seven by the end of February, down from a peak of 16 in mid-2008. Two operated rigs will focus on drilling horizontal wells in the Woodford, Arkoma and Anadarko basins, and one rig will be used in the Rocky Mountains. In the Permian Basin, one operated rig will run intermittently throughout the year. In its emerging shale plays, St. Mary plans to have one to two operated rigs that will be shared through the year at its Haynesville, Eagle Ford and Marcellus shale programs. Full-year 2009 production is forecast to be 101-104 Bcfe, down from the 115 Bcfe produced in 2008. The company posted a 4Q2008 loss of $126 million (minus $2.01/share), compared with earnings of $32.9 million (51 cents) in the same period of 2007. Excluding one-time charges, St. Mary reported a quarterly profit of $27.1 million (43 cents/share). Revenue fell 6% to $258 million from $275 million a year earlier.
Peak
Articles from Peak
Despite Lower Prices, Energy to Be Priority in New Congress
Even with natural gas futures price at $6.78/Mcf and crude oil futures trading at about $63/bbl — less than half of their summer peak — energy is expected to remain a priority issue when the 111th Congress convenes in January, Capitol Hill aides and legislative experts say.
Despite Lower Prices, Energy to Be Priority in New Congress
Even as the Henry Hub natural gas spot price skids to $6.27/Mcf and and crude oil futures trade at about $63/bbl — less than half of their summer peak — energy is expected to remain a priority issue when the 111th Congress convenes in January, Capitol Hill aides and legislative experts say.
Transportation Notes
With peak temperatures in the mid 90s being forecasted in its Florida market area, Florida Gas Transmission issued an Overage Alert Day Monday with 25% tolerance for negative daily imbalances.
EOG CEO: Barnett Gas Volumes to Peak in 2009, Plateau by 2011
The Barnett Shale’s natural gas production should peak in 2009 at around 5 Bcf/d and plateau in 2010 and 2011, which will require exploration and production (E&P) companies to look for new North American resource plays, EOG Resources Inc. CEO Mark Papa said Wednesday.
Heat Still Boosting Most Points; Rockies Plunge
Prices were up strongly again at most points Friday as nearly all of the East braced for a weekend in which peak temperatures would reach about 90 degrees or higher. The cash market also continued to have strong prior-day futures support from the 14-cent advance by the July natural gas contract on Thursday.
Futures Record Two-Year High as Independence Hub Remains Off-Line
Front-month natural gas futures traded at a more than two-year high Wednesday as the May contract recorded a peak of $10.470 before closing at $10.433, up 22.8 cents from Tuesday’s close. The action left traders scratching their heads for answers as to what the driving force might have been.
CAISO: Summer Looks Good; Market, Prices Stable
California’s wholesale electricity situation looks good for this summer’s peak-demand periods, but in the longer term the state’s aggressive push to get more renewable resource-based power continues to worry the head of the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), Yakout Mansour. The CAISO CEO held a conference call with reporters last Monday to mark the release of the grid operator’s annual market performance report, a newly approved five-year strategy and CAISO’s 10th anniversary of operations.
Futures Trickle Lower, But Experts See Near-Term Rally
November natural gas futures reached a peak of $6.985 on Friday before trickling to a low of $6.860 and settling at $6.870, down 4.9 cents from Thursday’s close. The week’s finish was 12 cents lower than the contract’s previous week’s close of $6.990.
ExxonMobil to Expand Piceance Drilling, Plump North American Portfolio
ExxonMobil Corp. expects to ramp up more than 20 new global oil and natural gas projects in the next three years that at their peak will add 1 MMboe/d to the producer’s base volumes. Scheduled U.S. start-ups between 2008 and 2009 are the Piceance Tight Gas Phase 1 project in the Rocky Mountains, the deepwater Thunder Horse platform in the Gulf of Mexico and the Golden Pass LNG [liquefied natural gas] import terminal near Sabine Pass, TX.
