Satisfied

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has notified Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. that the company has satisfied the terms of a 2010 settlement and may resume hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and completion activities at seven Marcellus Shale natural gas wells in Dimock Township. However, the producer is still barred from drilling new wells in the area.

While far from satisfied with the Obama administration’s five-year Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) leasing program, a coalition of five governors representing coastal states said they would not block the plan and hope to work closely with the administration to expand offshore access.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Thursday initial test results of water samples taken from 11 households in the Carter Road/Meshoppen Creek Road area of Dimock Township, PA, do not indicate any levels of contamination from natural gas drilling.

Officials with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) were in Dimock Township, PA on Thursday and Friday, asking residents to participate in a voluntary survey to address “potential gaps in sampling and sample results.”

Not satisfied with the nine-month high notched on Tuesday, November natural gas futures continued to press the upside for a majority of Wednesday’s regular session before collapsing in afternoon trade to close at $5.100, down 6.1 cents from Tuesday’s finish.

Satisfied with the one-day 23.6-cent drop afforded to the natural gas bears on Monday, the bulls were back on the warpath on Tuesday, pushing June futures to a high of $11.649 before the contract closed the regular session at $11.422, up 12.1 cents from Monday’s finish. Despite the gain, some market watchers say time might be running out on the recent trend higher.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) signaled last Monday that he was not completely satisfied with FERC’s response to a Senate inquiry into whether traders of natural gas futures contracts are engaging in market manipulation tactics to drive up the prices ultimately paid by end-use gas consumers.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) signaled Monday that he was not completely satisfied with FERC’s response to a Senate inquiry into whether traders of natural gas futures contracts are engaging in market manipulation tactics to drive up the prices ultimately paid by end-use gas consumers.

Gas utility business customers are “significantly” more satisfied with their service now than they were a year ago, according to a study by market researcher J.D. Power and Associates. At the 38 largest U.S. gas utilities reviewed, the overall satisfaction index scores for business customers increased by an average of 37 points to 723 on a 1,000-point scale.