Spændende læsning i tålmodig venten på stigende gaspriser (The Wall Street Journal 28.07.09) Kunne desværre ikke få linket til at virke.
A profound geographic shift in U.S. natural-gas drilling is leading pipeline companies to expand into new territories, even as prices for the fuel appear stuck in a lengthy slump.
A few years ago, pipeline companies were focused on moving plentiful natural gas from the Rocky Mountains to hungry Northeastern markets. Today's challenge is building enough infrastructure to handle the flood of gas now being pumped out of shale-rock formations in Appalachia and the Southeast.
Thanks to improved drilling techniques these shale wells are producing giant volumes early in their lives, relatively cheaply, giving producers faster returns on their investments.
The shift in opportunities is stark: As natural-gas prices fell roughly a one-third from January to early July, gas drilling dropped 79% in the Permian Basin in Texas and 57% in the Rockies by rig count, according to Barclays Capital. Yet during the same period, rig counts were at a record high in the Marcellus Shale natural-gas field around Pennsylvania, and had declined just 2% year-to-date in Louisiana's Haynesville Shale formation.
Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP of Houston and Energy Transfer Partners LP of Dallas have joint ventures for two major pipeline projects to transport gas extracted from newly prolific wells in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas. One of the projects is the approximately 500-mile Midcontinent Express Pipeline, which serves regions including the Barnett Shale of Texas and the Fayetteville Shale in Arkansas. Construction of the pipeline's second leg is to be completed Aug. 1, and Kinder says it has booked all the project's available transmission capacity.
The other joint project, the 187-mile Fayetteville Express Pipeline through Arkansas, is scheduled for completion in late 2010 or early 2011. Energy Transfer is separately planning the Tiger Pipeline to serve Louisiana's Haynesville Shale by 2011.
Many producers and distributors are betting that demand for natural gas will eventually catch up to growing supplies, as natural gas plays a bigger role in power generation and possibly in fueling buses and trucks.
Other pipeline operators including Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP, with primary offices in Houston and Owensboro, Ky., and Regency Energy Partners LP, of Dallas, are hitching their growth to shale too. Regency announced a joint venture in March to more than double its existing pipeline system in northern Louisiana's Haynesville Shale by the end of this year.
Regency Chief Executive Byron Kelley said in an interview that pipes out of the Haynesville region are largely full. Even the announced expansions by his company and others to carry an additional 3.6 billion cubic feet of gas a day out of the Haynesville Shale likely won't be enough. He expects four billion cubic feet a day or more of additional gas to be produced from the Haynesville Shale by 2012, so "we fully expect that we will go through a series of expansions."
Boardwalk, an interstate pipeline operator, operates Gulf Coast pipeline assets that had been seen as valuable for distributing trans-Atlantic liquefied-natural-gas imports to U.S. customers. But the bigger opportunity has been expanding Boardwalk's network to carry skyrocketing domestic natural-gas production. The company has mounted about 1,000 miles of expansion projects across the Southeastern shale plays.
The Marcellus region has even less pipeline infrastructure. Some of the companies looking to expand there, such as EQT Corp. of Pittsburgh and NiSource Inc. of Merrillville, Ind., already have West Virginia and Pennsylvania pipelines, an advantage because of the lengthy regulatory process required to lay new pipes.
EQT says it is working on a plan to re-engineer the westward flow of an existing pipeline network to feed Marcellus gas to East Coast markets, taking advantage of connections to five interstate pipelines. The company plans to make some initial reroutings effective this year, said Randall Crawford, president of EQT's midstream and distribution business
A profound geographic shift in U.S. natural-gas drilling is leading pipeline companies to expand into new territories, even as prices for the fuel appear stuck in a lengthy slump.
A few years ago, pipeline companies were focused on moving plentiful natural gas from the Rocky Mountains to hungry Northeastern markets. Today's challenge is building enough infrastructure to handle the flood of gas now being pumped out of shale-rock formations in Appalachia and the Southeast.
Thanks to improved drilling techniques these shale wells are producing giant volumes early in their lives, relatively cheaply, giving producers faster returns on their investments.
The shift in opportunities is stark: As natural-gas prices fell roughly a one-third from January to early July, gas drilling dropped 79% in the Permian Basin in Texas and 57% in the Rockies by rig count, according to Barclays Capital. Yet during the same period, rig counts were at a record high in the Marcellus Shale natural-gas field around Pennsylvania, and had declined just 2% year-to-date in Louisiana's Haynesville Shale formation.
Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP of Houston and Energy Transfer Partners LP of Dallas have joint ventures for two major pipeline projects to transport gas extracted from newly prolific wells in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas. One of the projects is the approximately 500-mile Midcontinent Express Pipeline, which serves regions including the Barnett Shale of Texas and the Fayetteville Shale in Arkansas. Construction of the pipeline's second leg is to be completed Aug. 1, and Kinder says it has booked all the project's available transmission capacity.
The other joint project, the 187-mile Fayetteville Express Pipeline through Arkansas, is scheduled for completion in late 2010 or early 2011. Energy Transfer is separately planning the Tiger Pipeline to serve Louisiana's Haynesville Shale by 2011.
Many producers and distributors are betting that demand for natural gas will eventually catch up to growing supplies, as natural gas plays a bigger role in power generation and possibly in fueling buses and trucks.
Other pipeline operators including Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP, with primary offices in Houston and Owensboro, Ky., and Regency Energy Partners LP, of Dallas, are hitching their growth to shale too. Regency announced a joint venture in March to more than double its existing pipeline system in northern Louisiana's Haynesville Shale by the end of this year.
Regency Chief Executive Byron Kelley said in an interview that pipes out of the Haynesville region are largely full. Even the announced expansions by his company and others to carry an additional 3.6 billion cubic feet of gas a day out of the Haynesville Shale likely won't be enough. He expects four billion cubic feet a day or more of additional gas to be produced from the Haynesville Shale by 2012, so "we fully expect that we will go through a series of expansions."
Boardwalk, an interstate pipeline operator, operates Gulf Coast pipeline assets that had been seen as valuable for distributing trans-Atlantic liquefied-natural-gas imports to U.S. customers. But the bigger opportunity has been expanding Boardwalk's network to carry skyrocketing domestic natural-gas production. The company has mounted about 1,000 miles of expansion projects across the Southeastern shale plays.
The Marcellus region has even less pipeline infrastructure. Some of the companies looking to expand there, such as EQT Corp. of Pittsburgh and NiSource Inc. of Merrillville, Ind., already have West Virginia and Pennsylvania pipelines, an advantage because of the lengthy regulatory process required to lay new pipes.
EQT says it is working on a plan to re-engineer the westward flow of an existing pipeline network to feed Marcellus gas to East Coast markets, taking advantage of connections to five interstate pipelines. The company plans to make some initial reroutings effective this year, said Randall Crawford, president of EQT's midstream and distribution business
29/7 2009 20:45 collersteen 015985
Lidt mere shale - dog med fokus på M&A, og det rykind i unconventional gas vi før eller siden kan forvente.
Jeg har ikke lige set den postet herinde - den er ca. 14dage gammel.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/energy-banker-eyes-fresh-us-shale-gas-deals
Et enkelt klip derfra:
"Everybody believes that the natural gas industry will recover although we're in a supply glut today," Van Bergh said. "With drops in rig counts, demand will soon catch up to supply and these assets will be highly profitable. Large independent or major oil companies will need to move into the asset and the only way to get it is through a corporate merger or asset acquisition."
Jeg har ikke lige set den postet herinde - den er ca. 14dage gammel.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/energy-banker-eyes-fresh-us-shale-gas-deals
Et enkelt klip derfra:
"Everybody believes that the natural gas industry will recover although we're in a supply glut today," Van Bergh said. "With drops in rig counts, demand will soon catch up to supply and these assets will be highly profitable. Large independent or major oil companies will need to move into the asset and the only way to get it is through a corporate merger or asset acquisition."
1/8 2009 09:17 collersteen 016130
Og her en supporter af gas mere. Man skal dog være opmærksom på 2 ting:
1) Han er stifter og direktør i Kinder Morgan, som ejer og driver mange pipelines i USA. Og vil et øget gasforbrug og dermed øget gastransportforbrug være særdeles lukrativt.
2) Kinder Morgan er et af Cramers favoritseselskaber.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/32221813
1) Han er stifter og direktør i Kinder Morgan, som ejer og driver mange pipelines i USA. Og vil et øget gasforbrug og dermed øget gastransportforbrug være særdeles lukrativt.
2) Kinder Morgan er et af Cramers favoritseselskaber.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/32221813
3/8 2009 00:46 Kenddinvare 016172
Ligner helt klart, at de vigtigste markedsdeltagere forventer, at det er Marcellus og Haynesville, der regnes som centrale de kommende år i USA.
Men jeg kan godt forestille mig enkelte overraskelser fra mindre plays og specielt hvis pipelinesystemet får større national spredning.
For NEC er det spændende om de har ramt den rigtige del af Marcellus. Kortindikationerne er ret forskellige netop for denne nordlige del af Marcellus.
Det kan være endnu en grund til at NEC ikke har indgået et Joint Venture endnu (at de mener at det er mere værd end nye investorer føler sig sikre på.
Det kunne lede til den mulighed at et JV i stedet kommer til at dreje sig om de dele af Herkimer, som entydigt har vist resultater og har produktion i gang. Det vil desuden passe med hvad vi to gange har set de sidste to år nemlig frasalg af produktionsfelter for at kunne forbedre likviditeten og fremme R&D.
Frasalg af en 50% ejerandel i 20% af Herkimer burde kunne indbringe 50 mio. $ svarende til 1 mio.$ pr. forventelig brønd.
Men jeg kan godt forestille mig enkelte overraskelser fra mindre plays og specielt hvis pipelinesystemet får større national spredning.
For NEC er det spændende om de har ramt den rigtige del af Marcellus. Kortindikationerne er ret forskellige netop for denne nordlige del af Marcellus.
Det kan være endnu en grund til at NEC ikke har indgået et Joint Venture endnu (at de mener at det er mere værd end nye investorer føler sig sikre på.
Det kunne lede til den mulighed at et JV i stedet kommer til at dreje sig om de dele af Herkimer, som entydigt har vist resultater og har produktion i gang. Det vil desuden passe med hvad vi to gange har set de sidste to år nemlig frasalg af produktionsfelter for at kunne forbedre likviditeten og fremme R&D.
Frasalg af en 50% ejerandel i 20% af Herkimer burde kunne indbringe 50 mio. $ svarende til 1 mio.$ pr. forventelig brønd.
3/8 2009 11:59 PGR 016181
Og imens sker der ABSOLUT ikke noget som helst med kursen - OB styrter i grønt og NEC blir holdt nede eller er alt bare luft??
Det er som NEC aktionær ikke pisse spændende det der foregår
Det er som NEC aktionær ikke pisse spændende det der foregår
4/8 2009 17:09 collersteen 016247
CEO Aubrey McClendon said the natural gas producer bought drilling and production rights in about 150,000 acres in the Marcellus Shale during the second quarter. The company's acquisition efforts are also focused most keenly on the Haynesville Shale, he said. McClendon said the company saw no reason to cut back production even though the industry faces a shortage of storage. "We're gonna be full up on storage by the end of the year," McClendon said on a conference call with analysts. "It'll cause involuntary curtailment. There's no reason for us to voluntarily curtail gas when pretty soon everyone will have to do it on an involuntary basis. We didn't see any reason to take in on the chin for the team right now."
Ifølge MarketWatch.
Klip fra regnskabet:
"Our high level of hedging at attractive prices should continue to insulate Chesapeake from potentially soft natural gas prices during the remainder of 2009. We believe that dramatically reduced U.S. drilling activity should soon lead to steep natural gas production declines in the industry. This should work to tighten natural gas markets, lift natural gas prices and improve the company's profitability in 2010 and beyond.
"Finally, Chesapeake continues to have discussions with several companies about a possible joint venture on some or all of its Barnett Shale leasehold in a transaction targeted for completion by year-end 2009."
Her er regnskabet:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/chesapeake-energy-corporation-reports-financial-and-operational-results-for-the-2009-second-quarter-2009-08-03
Ifølge MarketWatch.
Klip fra regnskabet:
"Our high level of hedging at attractive prices should continue to insulate Chesapeake from potentially soft natural gas prices during the remainder of 2009. We believe that dramatically reduced U.S. drilling activity should soon lead to steep natural gas production declines in the industry. This should work to tighten natural gas markets, lift natural gas prices and improve the company's profitability in 2010 and beyond.
"Finally, Chesapeake continues to have discussions with several companies about a possible joint venture on some or all of its Barnett Shale leasehold in a transaction targeted for completion by year-end 2009."
Her er regnskabet:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/chesapeake-energy-corporation-reports-financial-and-operational-results-for-the-2009-second-quarter-2009-08-03
4/8 2009 23:51 Kenddinvare 016273
Virker som om Cheasepeake bevidst medvirker til at holde Nymex-gaspris nede i øjeblikket, hvor de selv har meget dækket ind af hedgepriser. Dermed bidrager de dels til at knægte/svække en række af de mange små selskaber med mulighed for selv af få øgede markedsandele og billige opkøb og dels til at gasprisen senere stiger kraftigere da mange har fjernet/skåret ned på deres boringer.
NECs langsigtede interesse er vel delvis sammenfaldende med Cheasepeakes, så længe de forstår at styre deres kapitaludvikling og når at udnytte al leasing inden for tidsfristerne, men selvfølgelig vokser den nuværende indtjening ikke så hurtigt som man ellers kunne håbe på.
For QEC passer en langsommere udvikling i USA vel helt fint, da deres store udvinding fra Utica alligevel ikke stod lige for hjørnet, men partnerproblemerne kan muligvis øges. Hvor tæt den fremtidige sammenhæng mellem gaspriser i USA og Canda bliver synes jeg er uklar, men i (lange?) perioder må den blive højest i Canada.
NECs langsigtede interesse er vel delvis sammenfaldende med Cheasepeakes, så længe de forstår at styre deres kapitaludvikling og når at udnytte al leasing inden for tidsfristerne, men selvfølgelig vokser den nuværende indtjening ikke så hurtigt som man ellers kunne håbe på.
For QEC passer en langsommere udvikling i USA vel helt fint, da deres store udvinding fra Utica alligevel ikke stod lige for hjørnet, men partnerproblemerne kan muligvis øges. Hvor tæt den fremtidige sammenhæng mellem gaspriser i USA og Canda bliver synes jeg er uklar, men i (lange?) perioder må den blive højest i Canada.