Rose

Petroleum Development Corp. (PDC) said Monday it would pay $330.6 million to acquire close to 35,000 net acres in a liquids-rich area of the Niobrara and Codell formations in Colorado from an undisclosed seller.

With its drilling rig count creeping up above 200, North Dakota ended 2011 on the high side of all-time production totals for oil and natural gas in December, according to the state’s Department of Mineral Resources. More than 95% of the production was from the Bakken and Three Forks formations.

California natural gas for electricity generation rose nearly 250 MMcf/d in the past week in the wake of Southern California Edison Co. (SCE) taking its 2,300 MW San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) entirely offline. The shutdown came from a scheduled outage at Unit 2 and an unplanned outage of Unit 3 when a small leak occurred last Tuesday.

Denver-based Venoco Inc., an independent exploration and production (E&P) company in California’s oil-dominated Monterey Shale, said Monday CEO Tim Marquez intends to buy back all the publicly held shares of the company he founded, subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals.

U.S. pipeline deliveries into Canada rose to 702.4 Bcf during the first nine months of 2011, up 38% from 509.9 Bcf in the same period of the previous year, according to trade records kept by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

U.S. pipeline deliveries into Canada rose to 702.4 Bcf during the first nine months of 2011, up 38% from 509.9 Bcf in the same period of the previous year, according to trade records kept by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

U.S. natural gas use for power generation rose 7%, or approximately 515 Bcf, in 2010 from the prior year, with most of the growth coming in the Southeast, according to an analysis by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

January natural gas rose Tuesday as traders saw it as largely a defensive move by those seeking some price protection should cold weather eventually materialize. At settlement January had risen 10.8 cents to $3.633 and February had gained 9.8 cents to $3.653. January crude oil finished just under the century mark, adding $1.58 to $99.79/bbl.

December natural gas rose Tuesday on extremely light volume as traders scrambled to determine positions and locate funds in the aftermath of the MF Global trading debacle. At the close December had risen 4.9 cents to $3.745 and January had gained 4.0 cents to $3.843. December crude oil added $1.28 to $96.80/bbl.