Staged

After posting a 22% first quarter decline in drilling activity relative to the same period a year ago, U.S. and oil and natural gas drilling staged a turnaround in the second quarter, with well completions rising 38% in the second quarter, according to a new report issued by the American Petroleum Institute (API). But natural gas, which has held the lead in drilling for most of the decade, is now lagging oil.

After posting a 22% first quarter decline in drilling activity relative to the same period a year ago, U.S. and oil and natural gas drilling staged a turnaround in the second quarter, with well completions rising 38% in the second quarter, according to a new report issued by the American Petroleum Institute (API). But natural gas, which has held the lead in drilling for most of the decade, is now lagging oil.

Natural gas futures staged a meager rebound on Wednesday as expectations for Thursday’s natural gas storage report were for a smaller-than-normal injection. The August contract recorded a low of $4.477 before closing the regular session at $4.616, up 6.8 cents from Tuesday’s finish.

Upstream mergers and acquisitions (M&A) staged a strong recovery by the end of 2009 and a “healthy” transaction level is on course to continue through 2010, according to a new review by energy consultant Wood Mackenzie.

Upstream mergers and acquisitions (M&A) staged a strong recovery by the end of 2009 and a “healthy” transaction level is on course to continue through 2010, according to a new review by energy consultant Wood Mackenzie.

Upstream mergers and acquisitions (M&A) staged a strong recovery by the end of 2009 and a “healthy” transaction level is on course to continue through 2010, according to a new review by energy consultant Wood Mackenzie.

Despite an expected warm-up in the eastern half of the country by the end of this coming weekend, the natural gas futures market staged a partial rebound on Tuesday as some market watchers were expecting last week’s frigid cold to translate into a storage draw of 200-300 Bcf in Thursday’s report.

Traders stopped the hemorrhaging Tuesday as December natural gas futures staged a minor rebound during the regular session to close at $4.922, up 9.8 cents from Monday’s finish.

Cash prices staged a rally at a majority of points Thursday, bolstered both by the previous day’s increase of 6.9 cents by May futures and prospects of increasing heating load in the Midwest. There was also the possibility of limited cooling load in the South as such locations as New Orleans and Houston were expected to peak around 80 degrees Friday while Orlando, FL, could expect a high in the mid 80s.