Sharp

In response to the sharp decline in market liquidity due to credit issues and heavy collateral requirements, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) will for the first time hold a joint agency conference to address potential solutions.

In response to the sharp decline in market liquidity due to credit issues and heavy collateral requirements, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) will for the first time hold a joint agency conference to address potential solutions.

Spikes of 40-50 cents or so Friday at San Juan Basin/Rockies points were in sharp contrast to losses of about 15 cents to more than 30 cents in the rest of the market.

Due to a sharp drop in natural gas prices, earnings for U.S. independent oil and gas producers fell 57% in the second quarter from the year-earlier period, and were down a colossal 75% for the first six months, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said.

Due to a sharp drop in natural gas prices, earnings for U.S. independent oil and gas producers fell 57% in the second quarter from the year-earlier period, and were down a colossal 75% for the first six months, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said.

There’s no need to worry about sharp drops in gas supply, said Arlington, VA-based investment bank Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. (FBR) in a new report. Gas production from new deepwater projects in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and a boom in liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports will be more than enough to carry the load over the next few years and make up for any lasting effect from the current drilling decline.

Faced with a sharp drop-off in company stock and severe credit crunch, Williams Cos. is considering bring in an outside partner for its marketing and trading arm, a company official said last Wednesday.

Although there have been few if any formal announcements about increases in exploration and capital spending, there has been a huge increase in the rig count since it bottomed out a little more than a month ago, indicating producers probably aren’t waiting around to take advantage of a favorable 12-month gas futures strip, Raymond James & Associates said in an equity research note.

For a third straight month, Pacific Gas and Electric Co., San Francisco, reported Thursday that natural gas prices have settled into their “historical averages,” as the utility’s retail natural gas prices through the end of March this year are about 60% below last year’s record levels. In March, the PG&E utility announced that the average residential bill for natural gas will be $39.23, a 59% drop from March 2001 when the average residential bill was $95.06.