Coronavirus

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) on Wednesday reconsidered plans to hold a virtual meeting to discuss changes to Senate Bill (SB) 19-181, opting now to temporarily pause the rulemaking schedule on coronavirus concerns.

As an offshoot of the global economic impacts on energy supply/demand spurred by the coronavirus, natural gas vehicles (NGV) may get a boost as power markets and renewable equipment production are seen as potential casualties.

While acknowledging the coronavirus’ ultimate impacts are still unknown, the annual natural gas outlook for the Pacific Northwest is a mirror image of the recent past: abundant supply, low prices, modest demand and adequate capacity, according to the Northwest Gas Association (NWGA).

More capital spending reductions are making the news in the energy sector, and the coronavirus is hitting closer to home, as Murphy Oil Corp.’s CEO announced he is taking a temporary medical leave on a presumptive diagnosis.

With lawmakers acting to address the economic fallout from the coronavirus, natural gas futures found support in early trading Wednesday. The April Nymex contract was up 1.6 cents to $1.669/MMBtu at around 8:45 a.m. ET.

The oilfield services (OFS) sector was under pressure before the oil price war was launched and Covid-19 became a pandemic, but the future of many companies appears to hang on a thin thread, battered by the outbreak and plunging oil market. One analyst predicted up to one million jobs could be lost, mostly in the onshore sector.

As natural gas and oil markets have spiraled into unprecedented territory in part on uncertainty over the coronavirus pandemic, a slew of energy companies has stepped up as stewards in many communities across the Lower 48 and abroad.

Regulated natural gas and power utilities are relatively well positioned to weather the economic impacts of the Covid-19pandemic, according to a new report by Moody’s Investors Service.

Equinor ASA’s Lower 48 operations, mostly centered in the Marcellus and Bakken shales, have been suspended, as it attempts to stem the bleeding across the energy sector from the global pandemic and stinging oil price war.