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The market was close to flat in most cases Thursday as only a few points saw more than single-digit change either up or down. Overall it was a bit weaker as softness tended to overshadow gains more than on Wednesday. Cooler forecasts for Friday in the Northeast and much of the South were counterbalanced by warming trends in the Midcontinent/Midwest and Rockies, with Wednesday’s 12.8-cent loss by April futures tipping the market scales more to the bearish side.

The U.S. natural gas rig count is falling, as expected, but the horizontal drilling rig count has begun to markedly decline, with the last week of December reporting the largest single-week loss for the shale-directed rigs since 1991.

The U.S. natural gas rig count is falling, as expected, but the horizontal drilling rig count has begun to markedly decline, with the Dec. 26 report indicating the largest single-week loss for the shale-directed rigs since 1991.

Even with forecasts of Friday lows in the teens and single digits in the Rockies and northern third of the U.S. and sinking to sub-zero levels in Western Canada and some locations immediately south of the entire Canadian border, prices fell at a large majority of points Thursday. The cash market also felt negative pressure from the previous day’s 13.2-cent decline by January futures.

Aware that the company’s share price was treading near single-digit territory and on the hook for some admittedly poor business decisions, Chesapeake Energy Corp. CEO Aubrey McClendon came out swinging last week, telling energy analysts and investors that the company has “plenty of liquidity” and will weather the economic storm by neutralizing capital expenditures (capex) over the next two years. Even with flat spending, the Oklahoma City-based natural gas driller still expects to achieve 5-10% production growth in 2009 and 10-15% gains in 2010.

Phase I of Iroquois Gas Transmission System LP’s 08/09 Expansion — a 1.6-mile pipeline loop in Newtown, CT — began flowing gas on Nov. 14. The three-phase 08/09 Expansion will allow Iroquois to receive an additional 200 MMcf/d at its interconnect with Algonquin Pipeline in Brookfield, CT, and deliver the volumes to National Grid’s KeySpan system at South Commack in Long Island. Iroquois will act as a middleman between Algonquin and KeySpan. Algonquin has entered into a precedent agreement with KeySpan for 175,000 Dth/d of firm service effective Nov. 1 and an additional 25,000 Dth/d commencing Nov. 1, 2009. Because pressure in the Iroquois mainline prior to the expansion was substantially higher than the pressure in the Algonquin pipeline at Brookfield, Iroquois was able to only deliver gas into, but not receive gas from, the Algonquin system. The proposed expansion will allow Iroquois to receive gas from Algonquin. Phase II of the expansion, which entails installation of two 10,300 hp compressors in Milford, CT, is under way with a targeted in-service date of Jan. 1. The third phase, installation of a second 10,300 hp compressor at Iroquois’ existing Brookfield Compressor Station in Brookfield, CT, is expected to begin by year’s end.

One day after the Dow Jones Industrials recorded one of the largest single-day point losses ever, the feeling on Tuesday was that investors might have gotten a little bit carried away. Bargain hunters rushed to Wall Street and to commodity markets on Tuesday, resulting in significant climbs on the day.

Houston-based Transocean Inc.’s deepwater drillship Deepwater Pathfinder, a single-activity rig capable of drilling in water depths up to 10,000 feet, has been awarded a five-year contract by a subsidiary of Italy’s Eni for operations primarily in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Transocean estimated contract revenues over the five year period as high as $1.19 billion. The contract is scheduled to commence in March 2010, following completion of the rig’s existing contract commitments. The Deepwater Pathfinder drillship, which entered service in 1998, is one of 39 High-Specification Floaters in the Transocean fleet, 18 of which are Ultra-Deepwater Floaters capable of drilling in water depths of 7,500 feet or greater.

Houston-based Transocean Inc.’s deepwater drillship Deepwater Pathfinder, a single-activity rig capable of drilling in water depths up to 10,000 feet, has been awarded a five-year contract by a subsidiary of Italy’s Eni for operations primarily in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Transocean estimated contract revenues over the five year period as high as $1.19 billion. The contract is scheduled to commence in March 2010, following completion of the rig’s existing contract commitments. The Deepwater Pathfinder drillship, which entered service in 1998, is one of 39 High-Specification Floaters in the Transocean fleet, 18 of which are Ultra-Deepwater Floaters capable of drilling in water depths of 7,500 feet or greater.