Is Resolution of Natural Gas Conundrum About to Emerge?

For most of this year, natural gas prices have moved counter to almost everyone's expectations falling while crude oil prices have risen dramatically. The conventional explanation has been that natural gas production coming from the newly completed wells in the prolific gas shale formations around the country is much greater than from traditionally located and drilled wells. The unanswered questions are when will this phenomenon of more productive wells coming on stream end and why are producers continuing to drill ANY gas wells in a sub $3 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) world?

Why are producers continuing to drill ANY gas wells in a sub-$3 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) world?

Some producers have claimed that they have been scaling back their gas drilling activity lately, despite the recent uptick in gas drilling rigs, but the backlog of drilled but yet to be completed wells is being worked down and that accounts for many of the prolific new wells coming on stream. The answer to why producers are willing to drill and complete wells in today's low gas price world is answered by the strong contango that has prices for natural gas one year into the future selling at nearly $2 per Mcf higher than current fiscal spot prices. The two charts below.....Read the entire article with charts!

Technical Analysis for Energy Markets

The key support level for the ascending channel remained intact in front of the crude oil's constant attempts to decline, to push the price to the upside and halt at correction level 67.8% for the last downside wave, seen in the image above. It appears that a constant slant is towards the upside; thus, continuing the general upside within the main ascending channel (shown in the secondary image), while taking into consideration that achieving this upside requires some key terms; first one being the breach of level 71.15 (correction 67.8%), the second is breaching the minor resistance level 72.40 (resisting the minor descending channel, which could force the price in declining once again), and the third being the most.....Read the entire article with charts

Bloomberg Analysis: Crude Oil Risks a Pullback to $59 if $66 Support Fails

Crude oil, struggling to sustain gains above $70 a barrel this month, faces a decline to $59 if support on technical charts fails in the coming days, National Australia Bank Ltd. said. Oil is likely to continue drifting in a sideways pattern as traders seek to gauge the market’s short term depth, according to Gordon Manning, a Sydney based technical analyst. Your keywordFutures, which touched a 10 month high of $75 a barrel Aug. 25, haven’t traded at $59 since mid July.

“It’s trying to find a bit of a base,” Manning said in a telephone interview. “A close below $66 would easily take it lower.” Crude oil yesterday rallied 3 percent, the most in a week, after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the recession has probably ended, fanning expectations global demand would rebound. The contract for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange traded at $70.28 a barrel, down 65 cents.....Read the entire article

Natural Gas Extends Gain From Seven Year Low as Economy Lifts

Natural gas advanced, extending its gain to 38 percent from a seven year low earlier this month, on speculation that a rebound in demand will reduce a surplus of the power plant and industrial fuel. Manufacturing in the New York region grew in September at the fastest pace in almost two years and U.S. retail sales jumped in August by the most in three years, economic reports today showed. Gas tumbled to $2.409 per million Btu on Sept. 4, the lowest price since March 2002, on a glut of the fuel.

“The market is starting to count in an economic recovery, which should bring with it an increase in demand,” said Peter Beutel, president of Cameron Hanover Inc., an energy consultant in New Canaan, Connecticut. Natural gas for October delivery rose 2.3 cents, or 0.7 percent, to settle at $3.32 per million British thermal units at 2:51 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange after rising as high as $3.60. Prices are down 41 percent this year.....Read the entire article

Crude Consolidates Just Below $70 Barrel

Crude futures are returning earlier gains after failing to break through the psychological $70/bbl level following much better than expected Retail Sales data. The optimistic Retail Sales data is an encouraging development for battered U.S. consumption. A recovery in Retail Sales implies an improvement in broad based consumption, lifting the price of crude. However, the positive impact from the out performance of U.S. data is being countered by a collapse in the GBP/USD. BoE Governor King delivered another monetary shock today (refer to GBP/USD analysis), sending the Pound sharply lower against all of its major crosses. The negative performance of the GBP/USD is dragging on crude since it is a dollar denominated commodity. On the other hand, it is encouraging to see the EUR/USD and gold holding steady despite the.....Read the entire article

What Glut? Oops, Maybe There Is A Glut After All

For weeks the talk in the investment world and the energy business was what would happen when the glut of natural gas rendered winter storage no longer an option. The debate focused on what would happen to the surge in natural gas production if we completely filled the nation’s available storage capacity before the start of the heating season. How would producers handle involuntary well shut ins? What would happen to the price of natural gas would it be like some periods in recent memory in which Rocky Mountain gas sold for pennies?

How would producers handle involuntary well shut-ins?

But then an amazing thing happened. The Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) weekly gas storage report for the week ending September 4th came out showing that producers had injected only 69 billion cubic feet (Bcf). The gas futures market took off. Gas injection volumes for the week were below the average expected by analysts and traders on Wall Street.....Read the entire story

Crude Oil Rises for First Time in Three Days as Dollar Weakens

Crude oil rose for the first time in three days as the dollar traded near its lowest level against the euro in a year, spurring demand for crude as an inflation hedge. The U.S. Energy Department will probably say tomorrow that supplies of distillate fuel, which includes diesel and heating oil, rose for a fourth week from their highest level since 1983, according to a Bloomberg News survey. U.S. crude oil inventories are likely to have fallen last week as refineries bought fewer cargoes before idling plants for upgrades and repairs. “The U.S. currency continues to set the trend for oil in the absence of any major fundamental developments,” said Andrey Kryuchenkov, a VTB Capital analyst in London. “We’ll probably see more sideways trading ahead of the inventory numbers”.....Read the entire article

Crude Oil Daily Technical Outlook

Crude oil's corrective rebound from 67.05 should have completed at 72.9 already. Intraday bias remains mildly on the downside for 67.05 support first. Break will confirm that whole decline from 75.0 has resumed and should target 100% projection of 75 to 67.05 from 72.9 at 64.95 next. On the upside, above 69.81 will turn intraday outlook neutral again and bring recovery. Nevertheless, break of 72.90 is needed to indicate resumption of rise from 67.05 Otherwise, risk will remain mildly on the downside. In the bigger picture, there is no change in the view that rise from 33.2 is a correction to whole down trend form 147.27. Question remains on whether such rally has completed at 75.0 already. Crude oil is now at important medium term trend line support. Sustained trading below will be the first alert that such rise has finished. Break of 58.32 will confirm this case and turn outlook bearish for 33.2 low next.....Read the entire analysis and charts!

Oil Falls for 2nd Day as Refiners Idle Units, Fuel Supply Gains

Crude oil fell for a second day as refineries idle units for maintenance and on speculation that U.S. fuel stockpiles will climb as consumption declines.

U.S. refiners perform repairs and upgrades in September and October as gasoline demand falls and before heating oil use rises. U.S. supplies of distillate fuel, a category that includes heating oil and diesel, climbed to their highest level since 1983, an Energy Department report showed last week.

“The fundamentals for oil are bearish,” said Stephen Schork, president of consultant Schork Group Inc. in Villanova, Pennsylvania. “The driving season is over, heating oil demand has yet to pick up and refineries are going into turnarounds, which means a lot of demand for crude oil will be offline. If there is a correction, it’s going to happen now”.....Read the entire article

Petrobras to Hire Up to 28 New Rigs for Ultra-Deepwater Exploration

Petrobras' Executive Board has approved the strategy to hire up to 28 new drilling rigs to be built in Brazil, with increasing national content, and to be used for ultra deepwater exploration, including the fields located in the pre-salt layer. The rigs are slated to be delivered between 2013 and 2018. A first phase foresees the hiring of a minimum lot of 9 rigs. Of this first lot, seven vessel type units will be built, based on consolidated technologies widely used in the global market, and constructed in a single shipyard. Contracting these seven rigs from a same shipyard will allow the winning bidder to make the investments that are required in order for it to construct the needed infrastructure and to achieve the necessary economies of scale. The two other units, which may be either vessel.....Read the entire story