Themselves

The natural gas bonanza brought about by unconventional drilling may be displacing coal and diesel as a “cleaner” fuel, but methane leaks from the surge in drilling and processing destroy that advantage, according to the environmental think tank World Resources Institute (WRI).

Goldman Sachs on Friday joined two other analyst houses in boosting U.S. natural gas price forecasts, recommending that investors position themselves for “higher prices over the course of 2013.” The gas rig count also is predicted to surpass the 500 mark by the end of the year.

U.S. oil and gas merger and acquisition (M&A) activity will be stronger this year as companies attempt to position themselves for higher prices and increased demand, according to a nationwide survey of CFOs at 100 exploration and production companies.

U.S. oil and gas merger and acquisition (M&A) activity will be stronger this year as companies attempt to position themselves for higher prices and increased demand, according to a nationwide survey of CFOs at 100 exploration and production companies.

Oil and natural gas companies looking to drill within regulated interstate river basins need to familiarize themselves with issues facing the local river basin commission and take those issues seriously before ultimately deciding whether to drill, an industry attorney said.

Traditional allies find themselves knocking heads at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) over a proposal by Sempra Energy’s Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) utility to establish a special compression tariff and services for natural gas vehicle (NGV) fueling stations. Seal Beach, CA-based Clean Energy Fuels Corp. is alleging that the SoCalGas plan is anti-competitive.

The Sierra Club mounted another protest of exports of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG), this time against a facility proposed for Freeport, TX. The opposition is not against exports themselves but against the expectation that they will cause drillers to expand the use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) well stimulation.

As their country dreams of becoming “the second Norway” of natural gas, scientists in Poland asked themselves whether hydraulic fracturing (fracking) stimulation of shale gas wells is safe for the environment. The answer: yes, if done according to “legal regulations.”

Analysts at Standard & Poor’s Ratings Service (S&P) are asking themselves the same question that many in the energy industry are: “Will natural gas production ever come down?