Searching

Monday’s price movement saw a reversal of geographic orientation from the previous Friday. On Monday it was the East that was mostly softer, while most western points rallied from Friday’s overall declines. Freezing temperatures were still in the forecast for Tuesday from the Northeast through the Midcontinent/Midwest and Great Plains into the Rockies, but relatively moderate weather is in play across the southern tier of states.

Authorities were searching for clues to determine what caused a helicopter to crash Sunday afternoon near Houma, LA, killing eight men being transported to an oil and gas platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The Lafayette, LA-based PHI Inc. helicopter was taking the men to Shell Oil Co.’s Cougar platform from Amelia, LA, said Shell spokesperson Robin Lebovitz. Amelia is 80 miles southwest of New Orleans. A spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board said the Sikorsky S-76C helicopter is thought to have crashed about seven minutes after it took off. A PHI pilot and a copilot died in the crash along with employees of The Moreno Group’s Dynamic Industries and MMR Offshore Services Inc. Dynamic Industries and MMR perform contract work for Shell. A single survivor was being treated for severe injuries at the Ocshner Foundation Hospital in Jefferson, LA.

Those searching the skies for storm-driven relief for falling natural gas prices should lower their sights and take into account the extensive earthquake damage to a major Japanese nuclear power plant recently. That’s just what FBR Research is doing in predicting Japan’s increased demand for LNG to fill its 8,200 MW power gap could cut into supplies for the U.S. market, leading to tightening the domestic natural gas market.

Those searching the skies for storm-driven relief for falling natural gas prices should lower their sights and take into account the extensive earthquake damage to a major Japanese nuclear power plant recently. That’s just what FBR Research is doing in predicting Japan’s increased demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) to fill its 8,200 MW power gap could cut into supplies for the U.S. market, leading to tightening the domestic natural gas market.

Agrium Inc., which has been searching for more than a year for ways to secure natural gas supplies for its Nikiski nitrogen plant in Kenai, AK, said Thursday it has begun a detailed feasibility review on the proposed Kenai Blue Sky Coal Gasification Project. If the project is completed, it could be operational by 2011.

The domestic natural gas-directed rig count is at a two-decade high, gas well completions are at a record high, and the number of seismic crews searching for gas onshore has increased, but the production of dry gas in the United States has remained essentially flat at 50 Bcf/d since early 2002, an official with the Natural Gas Supply Association (NGSA) said last Monday.

The domestic natural gas-directed rig count is at a two-decade high, gas well completions are at a record high, and the number of seismic crews searching for gas onshore has increased, but the production of dry gas in the United States has remained essentially flat at 50 Bcf/d since early 2002, an official with the Natural Gas Supply Association (NGSA) said Monday.

Nine more rigs were searching for oil and natural gas in the United States during the week ended March 4 than in the previous week, according to the latest Baker Hughes rotary rig count.

In concert with gains in the nearby crude and heating oil pits, natural gas futures proceeded higher for the seventh straight session Friday as locals hunted for sell stops and funds covered shorts. Buying was concentrated in the winter months, which advanced an average of 22.7 cents during the session. By comparison, the 2004 summer strip languished near unchanged, down a half-cent for the day.