Region

Will anyone be able to look back on this time in the United States and not consider it to be a golden age for natural gas? Will anyone doubt that the Marcellus Shale was the blazing star in that firmament?

Natural gas price bears were on the prowl Thursday as unsupportive storage and other bearish fundamental data combined to send natural gas physical and futures values lower. However, with inventory levels apparently already priced into the market, October futures managed to stage an afternoon rally to go off of the board at $3.498, up half a penny. November futures ended the day’s regular session at $3.567, up 2.1 cents. Most cash deals for Friday delivery were down anywhere from a few pennies to a about dime from Wednesday’s averages.

Apache Corp.announced several executive changes effective Jan. 1, 2014. COORod Eichleris transitioning to two newly created roles: executive adviser to the chairman and CEO of liquefied natural gas projects and upstream, as well as oversight of gas monetization, and corporate health, safety, environment and emergency response. Permian Basin Region Vice PresidentJohn Christmannis to become COO of North America. International Operations EVPTom Voytovichis becoming COO of International, whileMike Bahorich, chief technology officer, also assumes responsibility for exploration and production technology. Argentina Region Vice PresidentMichael Bosewould take over the Permian Region, whileDavid Chi, manager of Argentina production, would become interim region vice president.Rob Johnstonis to become vice president of the Central Region.

In order to make a living in the shale gas world, Rockies Express Pipeline LLC (REX) wants to offer westbound capacity from the Marcellus/Utica region, but legacy shippers are balking at its plan to offer lower rates for customers headed west on a portion of the pipeline.

Denver-based Forest Oil Corp. said Monday it will market its Texas Panhandle oil and gas assets after having received unsolicited interest in the properties. A deal could garner $1 billion or more and would be “transformative” for the company, one analyst said.

Talisman Energy Inc. is shopping its Eagle Ford Shale acreage with hopes of raising up to US$2 billion, according to a Reuters report that cited unnamed sources.

GreenHunter Resources Inc.’s planned water treatment, recycling and condensate handling logistics terminal in Wheeling, WV, to serve the Marcellus and Utica shale region could provide drillers with free recycled wastewater for hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently approved plans by a subsidiary of LS Power to build a 900 MW natural gas-fired power plant about 50 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, bringing to nine the number of gas-fired plants proposed in and around the state’s Marcellus Shale resource.

The Bakken Shale and Three Forks formation in the Williston Basin in Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota contain a combined estimated 7.4 billion bbl of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil, 6.7 Tcf of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas and 530 million bbl of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas liquids (NGL), according to an assessment released Tuesday by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).