Setting

Record natural gas use by U.S. utilities is tightening supply/demand balances sooner than the market was expecting, setting the stage for natural gas bulls to come charging back, according to BNP Paribas.

Setting aside low natural gas prices and unseasonably warm weather in the first quarter, Bismarck, ND-based MDU Resources Group Inc. is riding the continuing Bakken Shale boom in its home state, growing its oil production 19% for the first three months of this year and increasing its working rig count from two to 10 for its exploration and production (E&P) unit over the most recent quarter-over-quarter period.

Singling out natural gas as an economic engine for the nation, President Obama Friday signed an executive order establishing a high-level, interagency task force to support and oversee the development of unconventional natural gas resources and associated infrastructure.

The Canadian government promised Thursday to speed up the country’s notoriously slow environmental approval process by setting tight deadlines for regulatory agencies, reducing overlap with provincial reviews, improving Aboriginal consultations and making protests potentially tougher to mount.

The Canadian government promised Thursday to speed up the country’s notoriously slow environmental approval process by setting tight deadlines for regulatory agencies, reducing overlap with provincial reviews, improving Aboriginal consultations and making protests potentially tougher to mount.

After a record-setting 2011, North Dakota continues to set all-time highs in oil and natural gas production, producing wells and rig counts, according to the latest statistics from the state’s Department of Mineral Resources (DMR).

Royal Dutch Shell plc is joining its brethren in staking out liquids-rich shale development in North America while at the same time it works to leverage value from its extensive natural gas portfolio, executives said last week.

Demand for drilling equipment in North America’s onshore continues to be strong, with the backlog of capital equipment orders in rig technology in the final three months of 2011 double year-ago levels, National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NOV) reported Thursday.

Seeing no increase in natural gas prices, Talisman Energy Inc. is closing in on liquids in 2012.