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Why Natural Gas Traders Don't Fret Hurricane Season Anymore
6/4/13 | Forbes
Big storms, of course, can play havoc with oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, knocking production offline and sending prices soaring. But we know with certainty that even a succession of Category 5 storms taking dead aim at the Gulf Coast will not have the impact on the natgas market as did those storms of yesteryear.
From providing more than 25% of the U.S. natural gas market 15 years ago, the Gulf of Mexico now accounts for just 5% of total supply. Naturally, the onshore shale gas revolution has more than made up for it. Total U.S. natural gas supply is now at a record 82 billion cubic feet per day, up from 68 bcf/d a decade ago and 63 bcf/d in 1993. On the other hand, oil production from the Gulf has stayed pretty flat in recent years at 1.3 million barrels per day (roughly 20% of the U.S. total).
Natural gas prices should stay above $4 mcf, report says
5/15/13 | Pittsburgh Business Times
Natural gas prices should remain over the $4 per thousand cubic feet mark through the end of the year, according to a new report.
Sterne Agee said in a study released Monday it was "cautiously optimistic on natural gas prices through 2013, and believe a $4-$4.50/mcf range should persist through year-end." But it also expects production to be flat or down through this year.
Coal Continues to Capture Market Share from Gas
5/7/13 | Power Engineering
April coal consumption, on a MWh basis, was up 15% versus 2012 while natural gas generation was down 19%. Year-to-date coal continues its strong run, up 13%, while natural gas power generation lags last year's record output levels by 11%.
Renewable generation hit its highest levels since last June topping out at 45,939GWh for the month of April; up 15.4% from last month.
Lower-48 State Gas Output Gain Most in 16 Months
5/1/13 | Bloomberg
U.S. natural gas production in the lower 48 states rose in February by the most in 16 months as new wells came online from shale deposits in the Northeast and North Dakota, a government report today showed.
Production in the lower 48 states rose 1.3 percent to 73.22 billion cubic feet a day from a revised 72.3 billion in January, the biggest month-over-month percentage gain since October 2011, the Energy Information Administration's monthly EIA-914 report showed. Output, which increased for the first time in three months, was up 1.8 percent from a year earlier.
Coal to recapture some of the energy market lost to natural gas
4/24/13 | Power Engineering
Competition between coal and natural gas as fuel for electricity generation is expected to continue in the short term, but because natural gas prices are projected to increase more rapidly than coal prices, existing coal plants should “gradually recapture some of the market lost in recent years.
Although coal remains the largest source of power generation, its share of total electricity generation, which was 52 percent in 2003, has declined to 42 percent in 2011 and is projected to be at 35 percent in 2040, according to the EIA.
The EIA notes that natural gas has been “the go-to fuel for new electricity generation capacity” over the past 20 years, with natural gas-fired plants accounting for 77 percent of all generating capacity from 1990 to 2011. Slow growth in electricity demand in spikes in natural gas prices between 2005 and 2008, however, caused much of the added capacity to be used infrequently until 2009, when natural gas prices became relatively low and made combined cycle natural gas-fired plants increasingly competitive.
NY Assembly Votes to Extend Fracking Moratorium Until 2015
3/18/13 | AOL Energy
On March 6, 2013, the New York State Assembly passed a bill to further suspend issuance of permits for high volume hydraulic fracturing until May 15, 2015. The bill passed with a vote of 95-40 and marks the Assembly's third moratorium, following similar measures in 2010 and 2011. The industry currently awaits the release of DEC's Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS) and a subsequent ruling for permit issuance.
US Suggests Keystone Pipeline Won't Harm Environment
3/4/13 | Global Energy World
The US State Department suggested Friday that a $5.3 billion Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline would have no major impact on the environment, but stopped short of recommending it be approved.
The lengthy draft environmental impact statement examines how the Keystone XL Project could affect wildlife and surrounding areas as it crosses from the tar-sands of Alberta in Canada and travels 875 miles (1,408 kilometers) south
US Northeast spot gas prices down nearly $4/MMBtu as demand fades
2/25/13 | Platts
This past Friday US Northeast spot gas prices fell as much as $4 or 39% Friday on expectations that weather demand will fade due to an impeding warm-up scheduled to start on Monday.
The biggest fall in the region was the volatile Algonquin Gas Transmission city-gates point, which shed nearly $4 to average in the mid-$6.10s/MMBtu on IntercontinentalExchange.
Following close behind was another New England market city-gate -- Tennessee Gas Pipeline zone 6-200 leg -- where the price fell nearly $3.50 to average around $6.10/MMBtu on ICE.
Marcellus Shale natural gas boom expected to slow in 2013 as industry waits for new sales
2/18/13 | The Washington Post
Energy experts say the boom in Marcellus Shale natural gas production will slow this year but not because there's any lack of supply. The slowdown is happening because drillers are waiting for pipelines to expand, new markets to develop and wholesale prices to rise.
Bans On Natural Gas Fracking Spread
2/4/13 | AOL Energy
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie imposed a one-year moratorium on hydraulic fracturing for natural gas in the state, pending more research into its safety. New Jersey joins New York as the only two U.S. states to place at least a temporary ban on "fracking" which critics say contaminates ground water with toxic chemicals but which is defended by the gas industry as safe.
Marcellus Production Helps Reduce Natural Gas Prices in 2012
1/19/13 | Energy Information Administration
The average wholesale natural gas price fell by 31 percent in 2012 compared to the previous year, down from $4.02 per million British thermal units in 2011 to $2.77 per MMBtu at the main trading location in Louisiana. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports on Tuesday that last winter's mild weather, combined with increased production of Marcellus Shale natural gas, as well as shale gas production in Texas, forced a significant drop in price. The price of natural gas fell despite a shift in electricity generation from coal to natural gas.
Oil production to grow at fastest rate ever
1/9/13 | Fuel Fix
Driven by the shale boom, the United States in 2014 will hit its highest daily oil production level since 1988 and will grow oil output at the highest rate ever, the U.S. Energy Information Administration predicted Tuesday. U.S. daily oil production, which averaged 6.4 million barrels a day in 2012, will surge 23 percent to average 7.9 million barrels a day in 2014, the administration said.
2012 US Oil Output Increase Biggest Since 1859
12/17/13 | Energy Information Administration
When the curtain falls on 2012, U.S. oil production will have witnessed its largest rise in annual output since the middle of the 19th Century, the U.S. Energy Information administration predicted Tuesday. EIA said oil markets have loosened in the fourth quarter as more world supply comes online, and while it raised its estimate of oil consumption next year, the agency stayed close to its forecast for benchmark global oil prices the rest of this year and into 2013, according to its December Short Term Energy Outlook.
Natural gas working inventories, which reached an all-time weekly
12/17/13 | Energy Information Administration
Natural Gas inventories which broke a record in early November, ended the month at an estimated 3.8 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), almost equal to the level at the same time last year. EIA expects the Henry Hub natural gas spot price, which averaged $4.00 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) in 2011, will average $2.78 per MMBtu in 2012 and $3.68 per MMBtu in 2013.
U.S. Oil Output Hits Nearly 15-Year High
12/5/13 | Wall Street Journal
U.S. crude-oil production reached its highest level in nearly 15 years in September, thanks in large part to the drilling method known as hydraulic fracturing, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Tuesday. Daily production averaged nearly 6.5 million barrels, the EIA said, an increase of 16%, or about 900,000 barrels, over September 2011.
Natural Gas Trend Lines Signal Price Decline
12/4/13 | Bloomberg
Natural gas futures will fall in the next month, based on a technical analysis of trend lines by Piper Jaffray Cos. that shows recent highs and lows. A six-month chart of daily prices shows gas may tumble to a support level of $3.20 to $3.30 per million British thermal units in the next month. The average, a short-term support level, was $3.538 per million Btu yesterday.
Marcellus gas production on the rise
11/21/13 | UPI
The number of rigs operating in the Marcellus gas play declined, though production there increased 72 percent since last year, the U.S. government reports. The U.S. Energy Department reports that the number of oil and natural gas rigs active in the Utica shale play in the northeastern United States has doubled.
Natural Gas May Set New 2012 High on Weather
11/19/13 | Bloomberg
Natural gas futures may rise this week after reaching a one-year high last week as colder weather helps reduce a stockpile surplus of the heating fuel. Natural gas for December delivery advanced 28.7 cents, or 8.2 percent, to $3.79 per million British thermal units this week in New York. Last Friday's settlement was the highest since Oct. 31, 2011. The futures are up 13 percent from a year ago.
Natural Gas to Be Most-Used Fuel in U.S. by 2030
11/12/13 | Bloomberg
Natural gas will overtake oil as the most-used fuel in the U.S. by 2030 as the country's supplies balloon, the International Energy Agency said. Socalled unconventional gas, extracted from sources including shale rock and coal beds, will account for almost half of the increase in global output of the fuel by 2035, the Paris- based adviser to 28 industrialized nations said today in its World Energy Outlook. U.S. production will rise 23 percent and supply most of the growth along with China and Australia.
U.S. natural gas inventories notch record high
11/5/13 | Reuters
U.S. natural gas inventories climbed last week to an all-time high, the fourth straight year a record high has been hit at this point in the season, according to data released Thursday by the Energy Information Administration.
The EIA report showed that total domestic gas inventories climbed last week by 65 billion cubic feet to a record 3.908 trillion cubic feet, eclipsing the previous high of 3.852 tcf hit in November 2011.
Short Term Natural Gas Outlook
11/5/13 | Energy Information Administration
Working natural gas inventories are at a record high level. As of October 26, 2012, working inventories totaled 3,908 billion cubic feet (Bcf), which is 56 Bcf greater than the previous record high of 3,852 Bcf on November 18, 2011. EIA expects the Henry Hub natural gas spot price, which averaged $4.00 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) in 2011, to average $2.77 per MMBtu in 2012 and $3.49 per MMBtu in 2013.
