Steadily

Signs of recovery in some sectors of the U.S. economy and rising consumer confidence have driven oil prices steadily higher in recent months, but other areas of the energy sector, including natural gas, have yet to be impacted by the “hope premium,” according to a report issued Monday by Ernst & Young’s Americas Oil & Gas Center.

Drilling activity in Texas declined steadily through April, reflecting “very weak natural gas markets and defying a crude price rally,” according to the Texas Petro Index (TPI), which was issued on Friday. Employment in the state’s exploration and production (E&P) industry has dropped to its lowest level since January 2008.

Drilling activity in Texas declined steadily through April, reflecting “very weak natural gas markets and defying a crude price rally,” according to the Texas Petro Index (TPI), which was issued on Friday. Employment in the state’s exploration and production (E&P) industry has dropped to its lowest level since January 2008.

As the price of crude oil steadily climbed last week, eclipsing $140 a barrel on Friday, Capitol Hill’s focus was on whether the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) was doing everything in its power to police the energy futures markets. The consensus was “no,” which lead House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) last Wednesday to ask President Bush to direct the CFTC to use its emergency authority to restore order to the oil and gasoline markets, and the House of Representatives one day later to overwhelmingly pass a bill directing the CFTC to draw on all of its powers, including its emergency authority, to immediately curb excess speculation (see related story).

The disparity between the energy sector’s market cap weighting and its earnings contribution to the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index has increased steadily over the past five years, and the “enormous” shift in wealth that is flowing into the sector is a sign that could mean a long-term rotation into energy stocks over the next five to 10 years, analysts said.

The disparity between the energy sector’s market cap weighting and its earnings contribution to the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index has increased steadily over the past five years, and the “enormous” shift in wealth that is flowing into the sector is a sign that could mean a long-term rotation into energy stocks over the next five to 10 years, analysts said.

In a steadily growing world natural gas market, U.S. buyers are losing out because of their unwillingness to sign long-term contracts for liquefied natural gas (LNG), while buyers in other importing nations are locking in capacity, FERC Chairman Joseph T. Kelliher said in opening the Commission’s “State of the Natural Gas Industry Conference” Tuesday.

The cash market finally bowed — but not totally — to the reality of weak weather fundamentals and the steadily diminishing possibility of Tropical Storm Florence even reaching North America, much less the Gulf of Mexico. Although a majority of points recorded moderate losses Thursday, there were still quite a few that were flat to a dime higher.

While many expected the holiday-shortened trading session to be a quiet affair, February natural gas opened at $8.950 on Friday and steadily worked lower for a majority of the day. After putting in the day’s low of $8.740, the prompt month settled below $9 for the second consecutive session, finishing the week at $8.791, down 15.2 cents for the day and 84.1 cents lower than the previous Friday’s close.