Persists

The sharp contraction in the Texas oil and gas economy began to ease as 2009 came to an end, but uncertainty persists about the future of the state’s energy industry with the oversupply of domestic natural gas, a petroleum economist said Tuesday.

The sharp contraction in the Texas oil and gas economy began to ease as 2009 came to an end, but uncertainty persists about the future of the state’s energy industry with the oversupply of domestic natural gas, a petroleum economist said Tuesday.

Despite a “big lie” that persists among state and national public policymakers, the natural gas market is “extremely healthy” today, and the fact that its margins may be modest could be a good thing in the long run, Robert Dickerman, president of Sempra Energy Solutions, said on Tuesday at the annual GasMart/Power conference in New Orleans.

Despite a “big lie” that persists among state and national public policymakers, the natural gas market is “extremely healthy” today, and the fact that its margins may be modest could be a good thing in the long run, Robert Dickerman, president of Sempra Energy Solutions, said on Tuesday at the annual GasMart/Power conference in New Orleans.

Although fundamentals seemed to be ignored in Tuesday’s mostlysofter market, traders apparently got a wake-up call Wednesday tothe fact that temperatures remained near or below freezing innearly all areas outside the desert Southwest and were expected tostay that way through the end of 2000. The result was largeWednesday advances at nearly all pricing points, with a few gainsexceeding a dollar.