Price

A looming FERC decision on a proposed tariff revision for Algonquin Gas Transmission LLC’s system could reshape winter natural gas and electric pricing in New England and determine the fate of the Access Northeast expansion project.

Privately backed financial firms have close to $1 trillion ready to deploy into the global oil and natural gas sector, with one-quarter now planning acquisitions by year’s end that mostly target North America and the Asia-Pacific, a survey by Ernst & Young has found.

With low oil prices lasting longer than many expected, banks in the energy-rich 11th Federal Reserve District saw loan growth and profitability decline in 2015, according to a new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas (Fed).

July natural gas is expected to open 5 cents higher Wednesday morning at $2.34 as traders attempt to digest a significant shift in medium-term weather patterns and cogitate on technical price objectives. Overnight oil markets fell.

U.S. natural gas prices should average $3.00/Mcf in 2017 but remain flat until after 2020, when supply sources beyond the mighty Appalachian Basin will be called upon to meet rising demand, Sanford Bernstein analysts said Tuesday.

While offering keynote remarks under the heading of “Uncertainty: Business as Usual,” ConocoPhillips’ Don Hrap, president for lower 48 states operations, reinforced an industry mantra that no one can offer concrete oil price predictions. However, he and other speakers at this year’s Williston Basin Petroleum Conference (WBPC) were generally bullish on the Bakken.

While offering keynote remarks under the heading of “Uncertainty: Business as Usual,” ConocoPhillips’ Don Hrap, president for lower 48 states operations, reinforced an industry mantra that no one can offer concrete oil price predictions. However, he and the other speakers at this year’s Williston Basin Petroleum Conference (WBPC) on Wednesday generally offered bullish attitudes toward the Bakken’s future.

Over the last two decades, the natural gas market has seen prices rise and fall, volatility wax and wane; while supply has ballooned and some liquidity has been lost to the departure of large bank trading shops. Price indexes are still very much a part of the game, but these days they are suffering a bit — in part from their own success.

Enthusiasm among producers for an industry rebound has faded for 2016, particularly on the pricing side, but they appear “surprisingly” bullish about the natural gas price outlook for 2017, which may be in part because only 30 rigs or so are in operation in the gassy Marcellus Shale, analysts said Monday.