Seeing

Physical natural gas prices on average gained a penny Tuesday with traders seeing no immediate need to make purchases during a holiday-muted trading week. Upper Midwest points added a couple of cents, and West Coast citygate prices were lower as forecasts of power demand were tempered. At the close, August futures were up 7.7 cents to $3.654 and September had added 7.8 cents to $3.651. August crude oil rose $1.61 to $99.60/bbl.

Rex Energy Corp. is seeing some positive results from a well targeting Ohio’s Utica Shale, but it is disappointed with a third-party well completion technique at another and is blaming bad weather for delays in turning some wells to sales.

Natural gas production in the Lower 48 and Other States categories, which include some of the nation’s most prolific shale plays, was up in February compared with January and with February 2012, according to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Monthly Natural Gas Gross Production Report.

SM Energy Co. is seeing encouraging results from a test well drilled in the Woodbine formation and has added about 10,000 net acres to its position on the northeastern edge of the Eagle Ford Shale in East Texas.

Despite a year of languishing natural gas prices, Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. annual revenues for the first time surpassed $1 billion in 2012. Cash flow set records as proved reserves grew by 27% to 3.8 Tcf on organic growth that replaced 417% of record production. The Marcellus Shale gave much despite infrastructure challenges.

Fuel tanks, which are considered the most costly part of the compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicle fueling system, are seeing technology breakthroughs in the United States.

GreenHunter Water LLC has acquired two oilfield water service and construction companies operating in the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas. White Top Oilfield Construction LLC and Black Water Services LLC have common management and have been serving Eagle Ford operators since 2008.

Lacking anything like the Bakken to its north and not seeing a major new play on the horizon, South Dakota oil and natural gas authorities nevertheless have begun the process for upgrading the state’s exploration and production (E&P) regulations, including adding provisions addressing hydraulic fracturing.

The re-emerging Mississippian Lime may be cheaper to drill than in some deeper formations, but an abundance of produced water has created a flood of innovative solutions by some operators.