Where

Where natural gas prices are concerned, last year’s “worst case” (gas below $3/Mcf) is this year’s “reality,” and the outlook for the net 12-24 months is “exceedingly ugly,” according to the buzz at Raymond James & Associates Inc.’s recent Institutional Investors Conference.

Where natural gas prices are concerned, last year’s “worst case” (gas below $3/Mcf) is this year’s “reality,” and the outlook for the net 12-24 months is “exceedingly ugly,” according to the buzz at Raymond James & Associates Inc.’s recent Institutional Investors Conference.

Next-day gas prices continued to erode Thursday except for in the Northeast, where a handful of points picked up between 10 to 20 cents. Weakness was widespread but was most pronounced at Wyoming points and locations eastward into the Midcontinent. Increases in the Northeast were only partially able to offset the general decline. Futures bears were pleased with the 10:30 a.m. EST storage report, which showed a withdrawal somewhat less than expectations.

Although Pennsylvania could eventually lease additional state forest land for natural gas drilling, it will likely be in small doses, according to the state’s top land manager.

After three years of exponential growth, the Marcellus Shale is showing signs of plateauing this year.

It is a matter of when, not if, additional testing will be done in Pavillion, WY, where the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has two test wells that turned up suspected chemicals tied to the hydraulic fracturing (fracking) of natural gas wells in the area. Gov. Matt Mead’s spokesperson has confirmed that additional tests are coming, but they are still not scheduled.

A Texas couple that has sued Range Resources Corp. for allegedly contaminating its drinking water with hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on Thursday lost a bid for dismissal of the company’s countersuit, which alleges that the couple participated in a conspiracy to defame Range.

CenterPoint Energy Field Services LLC (CEFS) has begun assessing routing for a proposed gas gathering and processing system in the Mississippi Lime of north-central Oklahoma and south-central Kansas.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will perform water sampling at about 61 homes in Dimock — the small Susquehanna County, PA, township where some state officials believe hydraulic fracturing (fracking) may have contaminated water wells — “to further assess whether any residents are being exposed to hazardous substances that cause health concerns,” EPA said.