Pushing

With the wave of new shale gas supplies flooding the U.S. market and pushing prices to nearly 10-year lows, the natural gas industry is actively searching out new markets and customers to increase demand, panelists told an audience at the Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association’s Winter Meeting in Champion, PA, on Tuesday.

In Appalachia, gas from the Marcellus Shale is pushing out in all directions. Producer demand for takeaway capacity is great, prompting Spectra to announce this week its Northeast Expansion Transmission (NEXT) project to serve markets in Eastern Canada and its Algonquin Incremental Market (AIM) project to meet New England demand with gas from Pennsylvania.

Shale development and rising oil prices are pushing up domestic demand for oilfield chemicals at a rate of more than 8% a year, according to new research by The Freedonia Group Inc. By 2015 the U.S. market for chemicals should reach $13.6 billion, the Cleveland-based industry analyst said.

Looking to increase natural gas demand, Pennsylvania is pushing for more drivers to convert vehicles to run on the fuel. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) published a guidance document late last month arguing that vehicle conversion is allowed under the state’s existing emissions standards.

Shale development and rising oil prices are pushing up domestic demand for oilfield chemicals at a rate of more than 8% a year, according to new research by The Freedonia Group Inc. By 2015 the U.S. market for chemicals should reach $13.6 billion, the Cleveland-based industry analyst said.

Monday’s market was a near-reversal of weekend pricing, with warming trends pushing most eastern points lower and the return of sub-freezing lows in the Rockies along with general western cooling trends causing that regional market to rebound. Friday’s futures spike of 15.9 cents and the return of industrial load from its weekend decline also helped spur western gains, although they were unable to stem overall eastern softening.

Exploration and production companies have heeded the call to improve transparency and institute better practices, but there’s more to do to address the concerns of stakeholders in the shale plays, a Range Resources Corp. executive said last week.

Despite the promise of a veto from Republican Gov. Tom Corbett, Pennsylvania lawmakers are pushing to get a tax or fee on Marcellus Shale development included in the state’s fiscal 2012 budget, which is due at the end of June.

In the wake of a well blowout last month in the Marcellus Shale, a Pennsylvania Senate committee has approved a bill (SB 995) that would require companies to provide to state and local authorities detailed emergency contact information for all of their wells in the state.