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The dismal days of 2009 are behind the chemical industry, and while the global recession isn’t completely gone, there are brighter times ahead. Much of that is because of the revolution in shale natural gas and oil, speakers at the IHS World Petrochemical Conference said Wednesday in Houston.

Living up to preliminary estimates earlier in the year calling for a 50-year high (see Shale Daily, Jan. 25), Colorado oil/natural gas officials released statistics showing oil production was up 22% last year, soaring past the 40 million bbl mark for the first time in a half-century at 47.9 million bbl.

Although drilling activity in the Marcellus Shale has slowed and some producers have dropped rigs, there is enough of a drilling backlog that, if wells were brought online over a one-year period, production would continue to grow but at a slower pace, energy analysts with Barclays Capital said.

While there are potential benefits to be gained from increased transparency in the wholesale natural gas market currently being contemplated by FERC, the likelihood that it could result in higher consumer prices makes releasing only limited information about trades preferable, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

While there are potential benefits to be gained from increased transparency in the wholesale natural gas market currently being contemplated by FERC, the likelihood that it could result in higher consumer prices makes releasing only limited information about trades preferable, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

PetroQuest Energy Inc. said Monday it has closed on the sale of its assets in the Fayetteville Shale for about $9.2 million as it shifts its focus to production of natural gas liquids (NGL) from other plays, including the Woodford Shale and the Mississippian Lime formation.

Natural gas prices in the various North American shale basins rose about 50 cents, or close to 20%, year-to-year from Jan. 1, 2012 to Jan. 1, 2013, moving mainly from the $2.80s to the $3.30s per MMBtu. At the same time, operating rigs in the same basins dropped 21%, according to surveys conducted throughout the year for NGI’s Shale Daily.

As natural gas moves into various segments of the transportation sector, there is CNG, LNG and now DNG — diesel natural gas. A unit of Oklahoma-based Chesapeake Energy said Thursday it is offering a conversion kit to allow diesel-powered vehicles to run on DNG.

Integrated oil and natural gas producers have stepped up their game in recent years to deal with “large-scale operational lapses,” but there still are sources of concern, especially oil spills, according to a risk analysis by MSCI ESG Research.