OilPrice.com | Energy | Natural Gas

OilPrice.com | Energy | Natural Gas Analysis of natural gas prices and also developments in the natural gas sector. Shale gas and new fracking techniques are covered in detail. http://oilprice.com/ Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:17:02 GMT Oilprice.com (info@oilprice.com) Two Natural Gas Kings: Russia and Qatar http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Two-Natural-Gas-Kings-Russia-and-Qatar.html In my forthcoming energy economics textbook (2012), the two natural gas kings are three – Russia, Qatar and Iran – while if I were beginning that book today, I would consider making it a foursome. The United States (U.S.) might belong with this royalty, assuming that the shale revolution is indisputably authentic and relevant, and not a transient bounty. Unfortunately we must wait a while for the verification we require, because the Energy Intelligence Agency (EIA) of the U.S. Department of Energy has apparently reduced…

]]> ferd@oilprice.com (Ferdinand E. Banks) Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:09:36 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Two-Natural-Gas-Kings-Russia-and-Qatar.html End of the Boom: The True State of the Shale Gas Industry http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/End-of-the-Boom-The-True-State-of-the-Shale-Gas-Industry.html Estimates for recoverable shale gas just keep falling. Last year, the Potential Gas Committee, an industry consortium that focuses on long-term projections, estimated that recoverable natural gas from shale deposits in the United States would amount to 687 trillion cubic feet (tcf). (This optimistic appraisal laid the groundwork for the oft-repeated notion that the United States has 100 years of natural gas supply at current rates of consumption. The estimate was also based on so-called "speculative resources" of another 615 tcf.) But, in its early…

]]> cobbi@oilprice.com (Kurt Cobb) Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:31:38 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/End-of-the-Boom-The-True-State-of-the-Shale-Gas-Industry.html Russia Behind Bulgarian Anti-Fracking Protests? http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Russia-Behind-Bulgarian-Anti-Fracking-Protests.html Pity the poor Eastern Europeans. Fifty years under the domination of their massive Soviet eastern neighbor then the collapse of Communism there two decades ago offered undreamed of opportunities to join both the European Union and NATO. But they still remain dependent on the Russian Federation for the majority of their oil and gas needs, and the new capitalists in Moscow do not hesitate to charge the highest prices possible. According a number of East European nations, particularly Poland and Bulgaria, are actively investigating the possibility…

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]]> admin@namecake.com (John Daly) Sat, 04 Feb 2012 18:20:52 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Russia-Behind-Bulgarian-Anti-Fracking-Protests.html Turf War with Ukraine Means Gazprom May Send More Gas Though Belarus http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Turf-War-with-Ukraine-Means-Gazprom-May-Send-More-Gas-Though-Belarus.html Russian gas monopoly Gazprom announced it could increase the amount of natural gas it would send to its European consumers through the transit system in Belarus this year. Ukraine currently hosts the bulk of Russia's natural gas bound for Europe, though Kiev is locked in a tug-of-war between Brussels and the Kremlin. Gazprom's move, therefore, says less about the monopolistic tendencies of the Russian natural gas company than it does about the status of Moscow's relationship with neighboring Ukraine and the broader European Union. Gazprom…

]]> dg@oilprice.com (Daniel J. Graeber) Mon, 30 Jan 2012 23:39:47 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Turf-War-with-Ukraine-Means-Gazprom-May-Send-More-Gas-Though-Belarus.html Bolivia Expropriates Consortium’s Holdings of Natural Gas Bloc http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Bolivia-Expropriates-Consortiums-Holdings-of-Natural-Gas-Bloc.html Energy rich, capital poor countries have few options when seeking to develop their resources than to partner with international energy company giants on whatever terms they offer, however iniquitous they might seem. But the last few years have seen a number of energy-rich nations push back by citing delays, rising costs, environmental concerns, etc., letting the chips fall where they may. The latest nation to deploy this tactic is Bolivia. The Bolivian government has decided to "revise" the participation of the Pan American Energy…

]]> admin@namecake.com (John Daly) Mon, 30 Jan 2012 1:53:49 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Bolivia-Expropriates-Consortiums-Holdings-of-Natural-Gas-Bloc.html Poland Gives Green Light to Massive Fracking Efforts http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Poland-Gives-Green-Light-to-Massive-Fracking-Efforts.html There is perhaps no more controversial energy source after nuclear than “hydraulic fracturing,” or “fracking,” of subterranean shale deposits containing pockets of natural gas.While the process can liberate previously unusable sources of natural gas, political, environmental and scientific concerns have risen along with production, as evidence mounts that fracking is responsible for everything from polluting subterranean aquifers to causing regional earthquakes.But no matter – during his 24 January State of the Union…

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]]> admin@namecake.com (John Daly) Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:50:47 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Poland-Gives-Green-Light-to-Massive-Fracking-Efforts.html Peace Pipeline May Finally Have its Day http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Peace-Pipeline-May-Finally-Have-its-Day.html Indian and Pakistani officials this week are debating issues related to a natural gas pipeline planned from Turkmenistan. Pakistan's energy minister left Monday for India to hold talks on the pipeline, which is the favorite of Washington. But Pakistan is running out of options to address energy shortages and explorers working on natural gas in Turkmenistan said the market wasn't ripe yet for major energy developments. Iran, meanwhile, says its section of a gas pipeline from the South Pars gas field is ready to go, and with Islamabad growing increasingly…

]]> dg@oilprice.com (Daniel J. Graeber) Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:51:09 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Peace-Pipeline-May-Finally-Have-its-Day.html A New Direction for China's Massive Shale Gas Reserves http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/A-New-Direction-for-Chinas-Massive-Shale-Gas-Reserves.html It's estimated that China holds more natural gas – locked in its huge shale reserve – than the U.S. And while the country hasn't yet begun commercial production, a new Chinese law has just given the green light to start allowing North American companies to develop shale gas inside its borders — where natural gas prices are significantly higher than North America's. In short, China recently designated shale gas as an independent resource, which means that smaller energy companies – and this could include some from outside…

]]> schaeferk@oilprice.com (Keith Schaefer) Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:29:59 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/A-New-Direction-for-Chinas-Massive-Shale-Gas-Reserves.html Why Does Gas Production Remain so High Whilst the Price is so Low? http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Why-Does-Gas-Production-Remain-so-High-Whilst-the-Price-is-so-Low.html Natural gas prices have declined to below $3.00/mcf, levels not seen for years, yet the EIA posted the highest gas production ever in October, 2011. U.S. gas production is growing despite annual well completion rates that are half that at the peak of the drilling boom in 2008, when gas price topped $12.00/mcf. Proponents of shale gas as a “game changer” suggest that, despite the well known high decline rates of shale gas wells, their productivity is sufficient to grow production with far fewer wells at historically low prices. Others,…

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]]> postcarbon@oilprice.com (Post Carbon) Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:28:43 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Why-Does-Gas-Production-Remain-so-High-Whilst-the-Price-is-so-Low.html The Cold (War) Reality of European Gas http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/The-Cold-War-Reality-of-European-Gas.html After sparring with Secretary Clinton over a missile defense shield, Russian officials last year claimed their 2008 war with Georgia blocked NATO ambitions to move east. The saber rattling by Moscow along the western front of the Soviet Union highlights the notion that natural gas diplomacy in Europe has more to do with geopolitics than energy resources, particularly for the transit networks outlined in the Southern Corridor. And with a crumbling European economy tearing at the stitches holding the European Union together, members of the eurozone…

]]> dg@oilprice.com (Daniel J. Graeber) Mon, 23 Jan 2012 1:54:43 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/The-Cold-War-Reality-of-European-Gas.html Waste Management to Convert Entire Fleet to Run on Compressed Natural Gas http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Waste-Management-to-Convert-Entire-Fleet-to-Run-on-Compressed-Natural-Gas.html Natural gas is inexpensive, seemingly plentiful and much cleaner-burning when used as an alternative to diesel fuel in transportation fleets, so it makes sense that Waste Management is converting its entire North American fleet to run on compressed natural gas. The company announced this week it has added 25 new CNG waste collection trucks to its fleet in Ottawa. About 80 per cent of all new trucks purchased by the company now run on compressed natural gas. To accommodate this fleet conversion, Waste Management has been increasing the number of…

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]]> tylerhamilton@oilprice.com (Tyler Hamilton) Sat, 21 Jan 2012 16:22:58 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Waste-Management-to-Convert-Entire-Fleet-to-Run-on-Compressed-Natural-Gas.html Bulgarian Assembly Votes to Ban Hydraulic Fracturing - For Now http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Bulgarian-Assembly-Votes-to-Ban-Hydraulic-Fracturing-For-Now.html Next to nuclear power, the hydraulic fracturing natural gas extraction technique, more familiarly known as “fracking,” is perhaps the world’s most contentious energy production method. Bulgaria, a former Soviet satellite state, joined the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance in 2004 and the European Union in 2007. Despite a 2010 World Bank report noting that Bulgaria imports 43.79 percent of its energy needs, the country has decided to give the controversial “fracking” procedure a pass. The Bulgarska Telegrafna…

]]> admin@namecake.com (John Daly) Fri, 20 Jan 2012 0:27:44 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Bulgarian-Assembly-Votes-to-Ban-Hydraulic-Fracturing-For-Now.html Natural Gas Goes Down in Flames http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Natural-Gas-Goes-Down-In-Flames.html I received a scratchy and barely audible call from my buddy out in the Barnet natural gas fields just outside of Fort Worth, Texas the other day. With the price for CH4 decisively breaking through $3/MBTU yesterday, traders were now resigned to seeing a new ten year low in the near future, possibly as low as $2. The men on the rigs were getting restless, fearing layoffs in their future. Did I have any insights? Natural gas has been your worst nightmare of a commodity since its peak at $14 in 2008, then riding on crude’s coattails in its infamous…

]]> jimonline@irelandmail.com (Mad Hedge Fund Trader) Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:48:08 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Natural-Gas-Goes-Down-In-Flames.html New Fracking Technology to Bring Huge Supplies of Oil and Gas to the Market http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/New-Fracking-Technology-To-Bring-Huge-Supplies-Of-Oil-And-Gas-To-The-Market.html Petroleum reservoir fracturing is set for a major improvement with new technologies going to work miles down from the surface and then out horizontally. Called fracking, the process uses pressure to break into oil and natural gas rocks and prop channels for the petroleum products to flow back out. Thus huge new supplies of oil and gas are coming to market. It’s no surprise that the technology is already international, starting in the U.S. it’s already going to work in Canada, Argentina, Russia, Mexico, Poland, the Middle East and more. The…

]]> james@pokemoncard.info (Brian Westenhaus) Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:40:09 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/New-Fracking-Technology-To-Bring-Huge-Supplies-Of-Oil-And-Gas-To-The-Market.html What is Clean, Abundant, Affordable and the Best Alternative Energy Source We Have? http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/What-Is-Clean-Abundant-Affordable-And-The-Best-Alternative-Energy-Source-We-Have.html If you answered cold fusion, eeehhhhh! Your time's run out! If you answered natural gas, have a cigar. Natural gas, for the simple reason that it is one of the quickest ways to achieve a future in which an oil importing nation is no longer held hostage by foreign oil and carbon and other harmful emissions are sharply curtailed. Seems like a heretical statement coming from someone who spent the last 15 years helping to develop an installed base of renewable energy projects. With 2010 Total Energy Production of 1.2% and 0.1% of wind…

]]> stevensba@oilprice.com (Barry Stevens) Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:42:46 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/What-Is-Clean-Abundant-Affordable-And-The-Best-Alternative-Energy-Source-We-Have.html Should the US Export LNG at the Risk of Increased Domestic Gas Prices? http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Should-The-US-Export-LNG-At-The-Risk-Of-Increased-Domestic-Gas-Prices.html Capitalism is a wonderful thing. It can create so much wealth, spur so much research and progress that we sometimes take on blind faith that unrestrained pursuit of profit is a good thing. But large energy consumers in the US are asking the question: what is more beneficial — profit for the few or wider employment for the many? It’s not a new question and it is a balance on which societies are constantly having judgments on; but the recent fall in natural gas prices due to the development of shale gas has caused issues of this nature…

]]> agmetal@oilprice.com (Ag Metal Miner) Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:28:29 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Should-The-US-Export-LNG-At-The-Risk-Of-Increased-Domestic-Gas-Prices.html Natural Gas Giants Forced to GTL Production Following Shale Gas Revolution http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Natural-Gas-Giants-Forced-To-GTL-Production-Following-Shale-Gas-Revolution.html Gas to liquids (GTL) is a capital intensive process of converting natural gas to either diesel (FT) or gasoline (MTG). The countries of the world with the largest reserves of conventional natural gas are Russia, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkmenistan. These countries prospered from selling their gas resource to global markets, but something big is happening to change that -- the shale gas revolution! Some of their biggest customers have discovered abundant reserves of shale gas within their own borders. Once these resources are developed,…

]]> thyu@oilprice.com (Al Fin) Mon, 09 Jan 2012 22:50:12 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Natural-Gas-Giants-Forced-To-GTL-Production-Following-Shale-Gas-Revolution.html Natural Gas Analysis for the Week of January 9, 2012 http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Natural-Gas-Analysis-For-The-Week-Of-January-9-2012.html February natural gas continued its descent along a pair of downtrending Gann angles at 2.958 and 2.850 this week. By the end of the week, however, the market had reversed course, forming a closing price reversal bottom and setting up the possibility of a near-term short-covering rally. Typically, a closing price reversal occurs when there is a dramatic shift in investor sentiment caused by an important change in the fundamentals. In this case, oversold trading conditions were solely responsible for the turnaround. Traders should keep in mind that…

]]> axempire@oilprice.com (FX Empire) Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:02:16 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Natural-Gas-Analysis-For-The-Week-Of-January-9-2012.html Spain's Controversial Natural Gas Undersea Storage Site Nears Completion http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Spains-Controversial-Natural-Gas-Undersea-Storage-Site-Nears-Completion.html In May Spain’s Castor undersea storage site in the Ebro river delta will come online. The massive facility, Spain’s largest, is capable of storing 50 days’ worth of Spain’s natural gas needs. Castor is located off the coast near the towns of Vinaros in northern Valencia and Alcanar in southern Catalonia. More than 1,000 workers have been involved in constructing the project. When Castor becomes operational, it will have 100 employees. But not all in the area of the facility are happy, particularly fishermen and local mayors of municipalities…

]]> admin@namecake.com (John Daly) Fri, 06 Jan 2012 0:14:14 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Spains-Controversial-Natural-Gas-Undersea-Storage-Site-Nears-Completion.html Natural Gas Analysis for the Week of January 2, 2012 http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Natural-Gas-Analysis-For-The-Week-Of-January-2-2012.html Another round of selling pressure drove the February Natural Gas futures contract to a new low last week. The market also closed under the psychological $3.00 level, indicating that further downside pressure is likely. Since the long-term decline has been consistent and orderly, one has to wonder when the final liquidation phase of this bear market is going to begin. The first sign of a final bottom is usually increased volatility, followed by a sharp acceleration to the downside and then a higher close. Until this chart pattern takes place, one…

]]> axempire@oilprice.com (FX Empire) Wed, 04 Jan 2012 1:07:36 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Natural-Gas-Analysis-For-The-Week-Of-January-2-2012.html