Showing

Oil and gas companies could be showing more interest in drilling wells targeting the Marcellus Shale in Wyoming County, PA, after having hired a seismic contractor to perform tests across nearly half of the county on their behalf.

The cash market overall was lower on average by a couple of pennies Tuesday with most market areas showing quotes on either side of unchanged. California points weakened as a customer imbalance was redressed. Eastern points were mostly unchanged, and Gulf points eased. At the close of futures trading June had risen 9.8 cents to $2.707 and July had gained 8.7 cents to $2.776. June crude oil fell 91 cents to $91.66/bbl.

California’s five-member state regulatory commission is showing some cracks in its usual solid consensus after 10 years of being headed by a former utility senior executive. This became apparent Thursday when a proposal by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) to invest utility ratepayer funds in a solar demonstration facility was rejected on a 3-2 vote.

Physical natural gas prices on average were unchanged Tuesday with some Northeast points showing strength along with the Rocky Mountains. Following Monday’s strength, futures prices reverted to the recent trend of probing lower as market technicians fear the worst and point to the likelihood of prices as much as a dollar lower by August. At the close of futures trading, May had retrenched 6.5 cents to $1.951 and June had fallen 6 cents to $2.048. May crude oil added $1.27 to $104.20/bbl.

After three years of exponential growth, the Marcellus Shale is showing signs of plateauing this year.

An exploration well in the eastern deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is showing higher-than-expected natural gas pay, an Anadarko Petroleum Corp. executive said last week.

An exploration well in the eastern deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is showing higher-than-expected natural gas pay, an Anadarko Petroleum Corp. executive said Thursday.

November natural gas futures eased Monday in a lackluster session showing no interest in following through on Friday’s hefty 17.2-cent jump. At the close November had lost 1.5 cents to $3.688 and December had given up 5.7 cents to $3.903. November crude oil fell 42 cents to $86.38/bbl.

Despite a lack of evidence showing that there is a correlation between hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and increased seismic activity, British Columbia (BC) provincial authorities want to study the issue, focusing on BC’s Horn River Basin shale play.