Natural gas hedging by North American producers was subdued during the third quarter while oil activity rose, despite the near-term bullish outlook for oil and the bearish forecast for gas, according to Enverus.

Production

Each quarter the energy data consultancy reviews North American exploration and production (E&P) hedging activity to check incremental activity, valuations and implications for corporate behavior.

Enverus Intelligence Research Vice President Shawn Stuart, who co-authored the recent report, recently spoke with NGI. This year, he said, was “a really tough year from a hedging perspective.”

Indeed it was. 

Lower 48 E&Ps have lost at least $42 billion in derivatives bets this year, according to Bloomberg data, which based the estimate using 2021 hedging activity....