Worked

Natural gas futures took advantage of a supportive inventory report and worked higher Thursday in active inventory report-driven trading. The Energy Information Administration reported that 245 Bcf was drawn from storage for the week ended Jan. 15, somewhat more than estimates in the 215-230 Bcf range. At the close February futures rose 11.9 cents to $5.615 and March gained 10.1 cents to $5.568. March crude oil fell $1.66 to $76.08/bbl.

Steven L. Mueller has been promoted to CEO of Southwestern Energy Co. Mueller joined Southwestern in June 2008 as president and COO. A graduate of the Colorado School of Mines, Mueller previously worked for Tenneco Oil Co., Fina Oil Co., American Exploration Co., Belco Oil & Gas Co., The Houston Exploration Co. and CDX Gas LLC. Harold M. Korell, who is stepping down as Southwestern’s CEO, was appointed to serve as executive chairman until his retirement in early 2010, after which he would become the nonexecutive chairman.

As a bipartisan group of senators worked behind closed doors Friday to shave more than $100 billion from the $900 billion-plus economic stimulus package, Capitol Hill sources expected that the bulk of the tax cuts and spending for renewable fuels production, construction of power transmission facilities and energy conservation would survive.

As a bipartisan group of senators worked behind closed doors Friday to shave more than $100 billion from the $900 billion-plus economic stimulus package, Capitol Hill sources expected that the bulk of the tax cuts and spending for renewable fuels production, construction of power transmission facilities and energy conservation would survive.

As the Bush administration and Congress worked to restore confidence to Wall Street last week, the issue of offshore oil and natural gas drilling — a political hot potato for weeks — got pushed to the back-burner on Capitol Hill.

Three U.S. congressmen from Colorado, who in the past had worked to block natural gas drilling on the Roan Plateau, are calling for a compromise that would allow phased-in energy development on the Western Slope landmark.

Three U.S. congressmen from Colorado, who in the past had worked to block natural gas drilling on the Roan Plateau, this week called for a compromise that would allow phased-in energy development on the Western Slope landmark.

While the Mexican national oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) worked to bring its major natural gas supply pipelines back into operation last week following major explosions carried out by terrorists on its natural gas and oil pipelines, analysts in the United State said that despite the limited connections to the affected region in Mexico, the blasts early last Monday initially had a psychological impact on the U.S. natural gas market.

While a significant portion of the industry was busy extending the Independence Day holiday, August natural gas futures on Thursday quietly worked downward yet again, recording a low of $6.560 before closing out the day at $6.618, down 13.6 cents from Tuesday’s close.