production

Citing the mild hurricane season, increased U.S. natural gas production and its “proactive procurement” program, Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. (BGE), a utility subsidiary of Constellation Energy, announced Tuesday that its residential customers can anticipate a 15% decrease from last winter in the gas portion of their total bill during the upcoming winter heating season, which begins Nov. 1, 2006 and runs through March 31, 2007.

In talks with executives from nine exploration and production (E&P) companies, analysts at Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. Inc. found that the drop in commodity prices is “being taken in stride but caution abounds.”

In talks with the managements of nine companies in their exploration and production (E&P) universe, analysts at Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. Inc. found that the drop in commodity prices is “being taken in stride but caution abounds.”

Thanks to historically high hydrocarbon prices, exploration and production (E&P) companies in 2006 are once again rewarding shareholders through stock repurchases and dividend increases. However, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) said those large share buybacks have tempered the credit ratings improvement E&Ps likely would have received otherwise.

Thanks to historically high hydrocarbon prices, exploration and production (E&P) companies in 2006 are once again rewarding shareholders through stock repurchases and dividend increases. However, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) said those large share buybacks have tempered the credit ratings improvement E&Ps likely would have received otherwise.

Tropical Storm Chris, which was pointed straight at the southern end of Florida (and potentially the Gulf of Mexico production area beyond), and widespread heat kept cash quotes moving higher Tuesday at all points except a flat Iroquois Zone 2. However, the gains were diminishing in size from Monday’s spikes, and a screen dive of 63.7 cents Tuesday will put negative pressure on the market Wednesday.

Two world leaders in coal production and coal-to-liquids technology announced Tuesday they have joined forces to develop a new coal-to-liquids facility in the United States. St. Louis-based Peabody Energy and Denver-based Rentech, Inc., said they would be jointly evaluating potential sites for the facility in the Midwest and Montana under a joint development agreement signed earlier.

Ultra Petroleum Corp. said its Marshlands #1 exploration well in Tioga County, PA is now onstream producing natural gas. Production over the last four weeks has stabilized at 3 MMcf/d at 3,800 pounds flowing casing pressure. Ultra also said it has substantially increased its acreage position in the play, with holdings totaling almost 247,000 acres, compared with nearly 27,000 at year-end 2005. Development plans call for up to two additional wells to be drilled later this year. Up to now, Ultra’s focus was on core properties in the Green River Basin of southwestern Wyoming (Pinedale Anticline and Jonah Field) and the shallow waters of Bohai Bay, China. Ultra also announced that Stuart E. Nance has been named vice president of marketing. Nance joined Ultra Petroleum in 2002 as director of oil and gas marketing.

Constellation Energy said Wednesday that it’s new limited liability subsidiary, Constellation Energy Resources LLC, which focuses on the gas production and midstream business, filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday regarding a proposed underwritten initial public offering (IPO) of common units.