Upturn

Halliburton Co. and Baker Hughes Inc. are beginning to see an upturn in U.S. and Canadian oilfield services following a tumultuous three-year period, which witnessed a six-month moratorium in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and a frenzied shift in onshore drilling activity from natural gas fields to liquids targets.

Relatively warm weather during winter’s final months and a halting economic upturn continued to keep a lid on natural gas sales during the first quarter of 2012.read more

Relatively warm weather during winter’s final months and a halting economic upturn continued to keep a lid on natural gas sales during the first quarter of 2012, according to NGI’s 1Q2012 Top North American Gas Marketers Ranking, which found a majority of companies reporting sales declining or flat compared with 1Q2011.

Relatively warm weather during winter’s final months and a halting economic upturn continued to keep a lid on natural gas sales during the first quarter of 2012, according to NGI’s 1Q2012 Top North American Gas Marketers Ranking, which found a majority of companies reporting sales declining or flat compared with 1Q2011.

It wasn’t a complete upturn, but the hints in the previous day’s market that a lessening of overall weakness might lead to a general rally Thursday came to fruition. Abetted by the May futures increase of 9.2 cents Wednesday and a rather slow easing of cold weather in much of the northern U.S. and Canada, a mixed market saw gains outnumbering losses.

Halliburton began to see an upturn in the North American oilfield services market in the last three months of 2009, but it will take at least until the end of March to get a sense of where the U.S. natural gas markets are headed this year, executives said Monday.

Halliburton began to see an upturn in the North American oilfield services market in the last three months of 2009, but it will take at least until the end of March to get a sense of where the U.S. natural gas markets are headed this year, executives said Monday.

The global recession has impacted many small and mid-size natural gas and oil companies, but larger well capitalized companies “are busy preparing for the upturn,” according to a survey published earlier this month by Ernst & Young.

The global recession has impacted many small and mid-size natural gas and oil companies, but larger well capitalized companies “are busy preparing for the upturn,” according to a survey published Monday by Ernst & Young.