Yielding

Despite “a major supply glut,” the natural gas-directed rig count has crept up, and oil-focused drilling in shale plays also is yielding natural gas, so analysts at Bank of America Merill Lynch (BofA) have raised their 2012 forecast for production growth and cut their price forecast.

Despite “a major supply glut,” the natural gas-directed rig count has crept up, and oil-focused drilling in shale plays also is yielding natural gas, so analysts at Bank of America Merill Lynch (BofA) have raised their 2012 forecast for production growth and cut their price forecast.

Yielding to pressures from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the $4.4 billion United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) announced last Wednesday it would reduce its holdings of natural gas futures contracts, and said it may not pursue its plans to expand.

For a good while any chart of oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) activity in Texas looked pretty decent, with steadily increasing drilling, production and prices yielding mounting positive data. But it turned out that on the other side of the data mountain was a cliff from which the industry continues to plunge.

For a good while any chart of oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) activity in Texas looked pretty decent, with steadily increasing drilling, production and prices yielding mounting positive data. But it turned out that on the other side of the data mountain was a cliff from which the industry continues to plunge.

TransCanada Corp.’s pipelines and energy businesses turned in strong results in the first quarter, yielding overall net income for the company of C$449 million (83 cents/share) compared to C$265 million (52 cents/share) in first quarter 2007, an increase of about 60% per share.

TransCanada Corp.’s pipelines and energy businesses turned in strong results in the first quarter, yielding overall net income for the company of C$449 million (83 cents/share) compared to C$265 million (52 cents/share) in first quarter 2007, an increase of about 60% per share.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. executives said last week that their ongoing asset divestiture program is yielding returns that are better than they expected, so good in fact that the company will not need to issue new equity as it rights its balance sheet following this year’s acquisition of Kerr-McGee Corp. and Western Gas Resources (see NGI, June 26).

Yielding to moderating weather forecasts, a 16-cent near-month drop the day before and suspicions that the upcoming storage report (to be released around noon EDT Wednesday due to the holiday) could reveal another small injection, the cash market fell in most cases Tuesday. Only a few western points that were between flat and about a nickel higher averted a clean sweep of softness.