Sector

In the six years spanning 2007 through 2012, total U.S. private sector employment increased by more than one million jobs, or about 1%. However, over the same period, the oil and gas industry — segmented into drilling, extraction and support segments — increased by more than 162,000 jobs, which equates to a 40% increase,” according to a new study from the U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Demand between now and 2015 will prop up natural gas prices, even with a backlog of drilled wells awaiting connection, and from 2016 to 2018 a “dramatic structural increase” in demand could outpace supply additions and send gas prices to as high as $6.00/MMBtu, BNP Paribas’ Teri Viswanath, director of commodity strategy, said Friday.

Oilfield services giant Nabors Industries Ltd. on Tuesday warned that operating results for the second quarter will fall below consensus estimates because of a “pronounced” shortfall in the pressure pumping and top drive completion service lines.

The compressed natural gas (CNG) sector has seen no shortage of supporters, with continuing interest in new fleet orders, technology advancements in fuel tank design and governmental/utility initiatives, as witnessed at the recent Alternative Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo in Washington, DC.

The worst of the flooding in Western Canada has subsided and field operations for the energy sector are getting back to normal, but access to downtown Calgary’s offices was still blocked Wednesday as power restoration and building inspections were taking longer than expected, according to officials.

Stability has come to the Texas oil and gas exploration and production sector, which is a good thing for producers and for consumers, said the economist who compiles the state’s monthly Texas Petro Index (TPI).

As another sign that the railroad sector is a growing potential transportation market for natural gas, Canadian National Railway (CN) has ordered four liquefied natural gas (LNG) tenders from Vancouver, BC-based Westport Innovations Inc., the first of which are to be delivered later this year. A tender is a car behind the locomotive that carries the fuel.

Stability has come to the Texas oil and gas exploration and production sector, which is a good thing for producers and for consumers, said the economist who compiles the state’s monthly Texas Petro Index (TPI).

Major players in manufacturing, transportation and energy are creating more buzz for liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the transportation sector.