Soared

Shares of Glasgow-based Scottish Power PLC, parent company of Portland, OR-based windpower, marketing and storage company PPM Energy, soared Wednesday about 13% on the New York Stock Exchange after the company said that it received a potential buyout offer.

Erasing last week’s significant gains, November natural gas futures soared higher Monday as traders chose to focus on near-term cold instead of the recently released forecasts calling for mild temperatures this winter. November natural gas jumped 78.5 cents, or 13.87% over Friday’s close, to settle at $6.444 Monday.

Prices soared Monday at all points in the East and most of them in the West as much of the U.S. braced for the first major cold snap of the fall season. However, excess gas supplies and limited options on placing them in the market resulted in large retreats in the Rockies.

Bringing the tally to four days of consecutively higher settlements, November natural gas futures Wednesday soared during the session to put in a $6.180 high before slipping lower to close at $5.995, up 23.6 cents on the day. One broker attributed the move to a combination of Indian summer-like temperatures in the East and a bounce off of significant support late last week.

Stoked by high crude oil prices, domestic oil and natural gas drilling activity soared to a two-decade high during the second quarter, according to the American Petroleum Institute (API). Most of the drilling was natural gas-focused, with gas activity setting an all-time record pace in the first half of the year, it said.

Stoked by high crude oil prices, domestic oil and natural gas drilling activity soared to a two-decade high during the second quarter, according to the American Petroleum Institute (API). Most of the drilling was natural gas-focused, with gas activity setting an all-time record pace in the first half of the year, it said.

Led by growth in the Freestone Trend in East Texas, the Barnett Shale in North Texas and other resource plays, XTO Energy’s production soared 22% in the first quarter to 1.460 Bcfe/d compared to the first quarter 2005 level of 1.199 Bcfe/d. The fast growing independent producer reported record earnings and cash flow of $467 million ($1.26/share) and $803 million, respectively. Earnings were up 181% and operational cash flow was up 96% from 1Q2005 levels.

Reflecting full ownership of its downstream and growth in upstream income, Marathon Oil Corp.’s 4Q2005 profit soared, with net income reaching $1.27 billion ($3.43/share), compared with $429 million, ($1.23) a year ago. Revenue was up 21% to $17.3 billion from $14.3 billion. U.S. natural gas sales grew in the quarter, but they were down overall for the year.

Kerr-McGee Corp.’s stock price soared more than $3.76/share Thursday to a record high of $100.51/share after the company announced that it previously underestimated its potential natural gas reserves in the Rocky Mountain region by 3.7 Tcfe and underestimated its resources offshore Brazil by 200 MMboe.