Preceding

Temperatures across almost all of the United States will average warmer than normal over the next three months, though the Southeast and Ohio Valley may get some cooler breaks, according to a seasonal forecast released Tuesday by Weather Services International (WSI).

The physical natural gas market added an average of 4 cents Monday for Tuesday delivery, led by surging prices at Northeast points prompted by warm temperatures and big jumps in next day power. Eastern points also tallied double digit gains, far outdistancing trading centers in the Midwest and Gulf as well as those in California and the Rockies. At the close of futures trading July had fallen 3.2 cents to $3.739 and August was off 3.3 cents to $3.760. August crude oil recovered $1.49 to $95.18/bbl.

The revival of the U.S. industrial sector will be “the most significant driver” to higher long-term natural gas prices, lifted by new ethylene crackers, ammonia plants and natural gas-to-liquids (GTL) facilities fed by stores of natural gas, according to an analysis by Raymond James & Associates Inc.

Low natural gas prices have driven down Fayetteville Shale drilling activity and production, but the Arkansas dry gas play has plenty more to give, and the rigs will be coming back to get it when natural gas has a $5 handle, the Arkansas Geological Survey’s Ed Ratchford told NGI.

The state of Wyoming will take the lead in the continuing investigation of the potential impact of natural gas production activities on drinking water in the Pavillion, WY, area, with the cooperation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is suspending its own investigation.

Natural gas last year expanded its share of the global energy mix even though demand growth was hindered by a weak economy in Europe, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), which said the United States was a standout among gas-producing countries.

Yankee Gas, Connecticut Natural Gas (CNG) and Southern Connecticut Gas (SCG) have filed a joint expansion plan with state regulators that would add nearly 300,000 gas customers and increase system throughputs substantially. In the shale gas era, consumers are seeking gas connections, and utilities are working to provide them (see NGI, Feb. 11).

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz may be new at his job, but he successfully dodged a barrage of questions from the audience and reporters as to when his department would approve more licenses for liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports at the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Energy Conference last Monday.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said it found naturally occurring dissolved methane at several household wells used for drinking water in Sullivan County, PA, during pre-drill baseline testing at sites not near existing oil and gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale.