Ultimate

North Dakota continues to set new records for oil and natural gas production, but it also continues to see more flared gas, according to officials.

While future U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) depend on decisions by the federal government, the ultimate volumes and prices involved will be driven by the global natural gas market, which is rapidly being reshaped, according to a report released Wednesday by a professor at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

Backers of the proposed High Prairie Pipeline for taking away burgeoning Bakken Shale play oil supplies fired two shots Tuesday in an attempt to untangle their 450-mile, 16-inch diameter pipeline project. They contracted with an anchor shipper for the line and filed a second complaint with a federal agency against Enbridge Energy Partners LP for blocking an interconnection of the proposed pipeline.

Countering recent reports that drilling activity in the Bakken Shale play in North Dakota was being cut back, an analyst with Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) told NGI’s Shale Daily Monday that drilling and production was still “full steam ahead,” although margins may compress some next year.

Encana Corp., one of the biggest natural gas producers in North America, is taking a walk on the oily side in 2012, redirecting a substantial portion of its 2012 budget to more profitable liquids-rich plays, CEO Randy Eresman said on Thursday.

The pace of infrastructure development to serve producers in the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas continues with two separate projects targeting services for crude oil and condensate.

Consol Energy Inc. has proved gas reserves of 3.7 Tcf as of the end of last year, marking an increase of 1.8 Tcf, or 95%, from the 1.9 Tcf reported at year-end 2009. Coalbed methane (CBM) and a “nice jump” in the Marcellus Shale were credited for the growth.

While saying he is bullish on natural gas — given climate drivers, economic and ultimate global supply optionality for the fuel — a ConocoPhillips market research expert last Tuesday predicted continued vacillations between oversupply and undersupply in the nation’s natural gas markets for the foreseeable future.

Saying he is bullish on natural gas given climate drivers, economic and ultimate global supply optionality for the fuel, a ConocoPhillips market research expert Tuesday predicted continued vacillations between oversupply and undersupply in the nation’s natural gas markets for the foreseeable future.