Ranging

Natural gas found in North Texas water wells did not come from the Barnett Shale but rather the gas-bearing Strawn formation, which is closer to the surface, hearing examiners at the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) said in a report released Monday. If accepted by commissioners, the finding would exonerate Range Resources Corp., which had been accused of contaminating the wells with its Barnett drilling activities.

Shale play activity has come on like gangbusters in recent years, greatly augmenting the overall supply picture. Some producers appear dubious about how sustainable even the highly competitive economics of shale drilling are during a period in which gas prices universally have slipped below $4 into the pipe, but many keep shifting rigs into their shale acreage anyway.

Flat — or close to it — numbers reigned in the cash market Thursday as forecasts for freezing-or-less lows ranging from the Northeast through the Rockies dueled with moderate conditions in most of the southern U.S.

Flat — or close to it — numbers reigned in the cash market Thursday as forecasts for freezing-or-less lows ranging from the Northeast through the Rockies dueled with moderate conditions in most of the southern U.S.

Mixed price movement returned to the cash market Friday as several points, mostly in the West and Northeast, saw drops ranging from a couple of pennies to a little more than a nickel. But most points continued to record small gains that again depended on a prior-day futures increase and continued to defy modest weather-based load in most areas.

Companies would be allowed to disclose probable and possible reserves and add in coalbed methane and shale gas to their reserves count under wide-ranging new rules for reserves evaluation proposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last Thursday.

Companies would be allowed to disclose probable and possible reserves and add in coalbed methane and shale gas to their reserves count under wide-ranging new rules for reserves evaluation proposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Thursday.

Prices skyrocketed to as high as $19.50/MMBtu Wednesday in the Northeast as low temperatures ranging from single digits to the 20s were forecast to keep the region chilled out Thursday. But with warming trends due in the South and Midwest while the West essentially maintains its status quo of seasonably cold to mild conditions, the market outside the Northeast saw mixed price movement that was mostly close to flat and biased toward the downside.

With Friday’s predicted lows ranging from sub-zero to the teens and 20s from the Rocky Mountains through the Plains and Midwest into much of the inland Northeast, the surge of heating load was able to rally prices at a solid majority of points Thursday. Cash gas got a small extra boost from the prior-day advance of 3 cents by January futures, which ended a six-session losing streak for the Nymex contract.