Steep

Steep declines in hydraulic fracturing and cementing services in North American operations, coupled with reduced pricing for services, sent BJ Services Co. earnings into a spiral in fiscal 1Q2010, the company said late Monday.

Steep declines in hydraulic fracturing and cementing services in North American operations, coupled with reduced pricing for services, sent BJ Services Co. earnings into a spiral in fiscal 1Q2010, the company said late Monday.

The U.S. exploration and production (E&P) industry this year shows few signs of pulling out of its drilling decline, but the rapid and steep drop in natural gas and oil prices appears to be “near or at a trough,” Standard & Poor’s (S&P) said last week.

The U.S. exploration and production (E&P) industry this year shows few signs of pulling out of its drilling decline, but the rapid and steep drop in natural gas and oil prices appears to be “near or at a trough,” Standard & Poor’s (S&P) said Monday in an industry outlook.

Rising global demand for natural gas and steep decline rates in many fields mean the industry needs to drill more, Schlumberger CEO Andrew Gould told a New Orleans audience last week. Other challenges facing exploration and production companies include growing resource nationalism by national oil companies and a crippling shortage of skilled workers, particularly engineers, he said.

Rising global demand for natural gas and steep decline rates in many fields mean the industry needs to drill more, Schlumberger CEO Andrew Gould told a New Orleans audience Monday. Other challenges facing exploration and production companies include growing resource nationalism by national oil companies and a crippling shortage of skilled workers, particularly engineers, he said.

In a sign that this week’s steep cash market slide is beginning to stabilize, most of Wednesday’s majority losses were only in single digits and a significant number of scattered points were flat to about a nickel higher. Moderate temperature increases were predicted for Thursday in the Northeast and some parts of the Midwest, although they weren’t expected to spur any large increases in overall heating load.

Prices were in a steep slide across the board Monday, with heating load continuing to recede and the cash market no longer having prior-trading-day screen support. All points yielded more price ground Monday than they had gained on the previous Friday.

Other than steep declines at Northeast citygates, last week’s market ended quietly Friday with moderate dips in most cases, but with several points (mostly in the West and Midcontinent) registering as flat to as much as about 15 cents higher. Fairly moderate weather in many areas, heavy storage withdrawals and the weekend drop in industrial load were the dominant influences, but they were obviously offset at some points by localized heating demand and modest support from the previous day’s screen.