Surveyed

Colorado and Thailand are the top two locations in the world for oil and gas exploration and development investments, according to energy industry experts surveyed by The Fraser Institute, a Calgary-based research organization. This was one of the points the institute highlighted in its first global survey of upstream petroleum companies.

Raymond James & Associates Inc. affirmed recent private and government forecasts that U.S. natural gas production is indeed on the rise, but the ever-bullish energy analyst said the growth’s long-term sustainability is “unlikely.”

A majority of those surveyed believe that California’s troubled energy situation will continue to deteriorate in the short-term and that the state’s ongoing woes will prove to be a drag on the national economy, according to Americans for Balanced Energy Choices (ABEC).

Light short-covering gently prodded the futures market higheryesterday as traders surveyed the prospect of a sizable storagewithdrawal reported in the American Gas Association’s storagereport this afternoon. The prompt February contract led all others,advancing 4.2 cents to settle at $1.821. With that small gain, themarket ended a five-day, 25-cent slide.

After seesawing throughout most of the morning, futures pricestumbled again Wednesday as traders surveyed the threat of freshbearish fundamental news. The front-month January contract finisheddown 7.2 cents to $1.886 at the close, barely off session lows of$1.88. Estimated volume was a healthy 67,274.