Times

EOG Resources Inc.’s potential natural reserves in the Haynesville/Bossier play now are estimated at 10 Tcf — three times the initial assessment of 3 Tcf — and its holdings in British Columbia’s Horn River Basin may hold 9 Tcf, well above an initial estimate of 6 Tcf, CEO Mark Papa said Wednesday.

For producers — and anyone else who prefers that gas prices are higher rather than lower — the good times won’t arrive until 2013. But then prices could shoot up as high as $10/MMBtu on demand strength coupled with constraints in the rig and oilfield services sector, while global markets draw liquefied natural gas (LNG) away from U.S. shores, according to analysts at Wood Mackenzie.

For producers — and anyone else who prefers that gas prices are higher rather than lower — the good times won’t arrive until 2013. But then prices could shoot up as high as $10/MMBtu on demand strength coupled with constraints in the rig and oilfield services sector, while global markets draw liquefied natural gas (LNG) away from U.S. shores, according to analysts at Wood Mackenzie.

An adventure north of $4 appeared to be a bridge too far — at least on Friday — as the October contract grabbed the $4 handle two separate times during the day before closing at $3.985, up three pennies from Thursday’s close and up 20.7 cents from the previous week’s finish.

Modest power demand growth and the rise of renewable energy, particularly wind, could signal the end of the boom times for gas-fired power generation, analysts at Barclays Capital said in a research note.

After faltering a couple of times earlier in the week, the general bearishness of weather fundamentals reasserted itself Friday. Even with their first prior-day futures support in more than a week, prices fell at nearly all points.

The times have changed in energy marketing and trading, and in the business world at large — and that, in a nutshell, is why David Messer, the head of RBS Sempra Commodities, decided to pack it in last week for family breakfasts and deep sea fishing, according to Sempra Energy CEO Donald Felsinger.

The times have changed in energy marketing and trading, and in the business world at large — and that, in a nutshell, is why David Messer, the head of RBS Sempra Commodities, decided to pack it in this week for family breakfasts and deep sea fishing, according to Sempra Energy CEO Donald Felsinger.

In times of economic health and strong commodity prices, the returns of regulated assets can be something of a bore. These days, though, they’re at least one thing to smile about. Such is the case at National Fuel Gas Co. where a charge for a ceiling test writedown on producing properties slashed profits, but utility and pipeline results improved during the first quarter of the company’s fiscal 2009.