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Delek Group says it may have found natural gas off Israel's coast

Israeli energy company Delek Group said Tuesday it found signs of a natural gas discovery in an exploration well off the country’s coast. Delek Group said there were “strong signs of natural gas” encountered while drilling an exploration well in the South West Tamar prospect. “It is clarified that appraisal drilling work has not yet taken place and signs of natural gas do not necessarily indicate an existence of a discovery,” the company cautioned in a statement. In a September assessment, Delek said it estimated the undiscovered resource potential in the South Tamar prospect to be around 684 billion cubic feet of natural gas. Delek discovered the broader Tamar prospect about 60 miles off the northern Israeli coast in 2009. The company said it, along with the region’s Leviathan gas field, are among the largest natural gas discoveries ever made in deep […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Delek Group says it may have found natural gas off Israel’s coast

Israeli energy company Delek Group said Tuesday it found signs of a natural gas discovery in an exploration well off the country’s coast. Delek Group said there were “strong signs of natural gas” encountered while drilling an exploration well in the South West Tamar prospect. “It is clarified that appraisal drilling work has not yet taken place and signs of natural gas do not necessarily indicate an existence of a discovery,” the company cautioned in a statement. In a September assessment, Delek said it estimated the undiscovered resource potential in the South Tamar prospect to be around 684 billion cubic feet of natural gas. Delek discovered the broader Tamar prospect about 60 miles off the northern Israeli coast in 2009. The company said it, along with the region’s Leviathan gas field, are among the largest natural gas discoveries ever made in deep […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Natural Gas Production in Northeast Reduces Need from Other Regions

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently released a report based on natural gas production in the northeast and the effects on the region’s gas inflow, reported the Penn State Extension. Compared to 2008 natural gas records, production in the northeast has increased almost six-fold to 12.3 billion cubic feet (Bcf) per day in 2013.  This upward trend has been reflected in lower prices and an increased natural gas supply.  Natural gas use in power generation continues to increase, and the inflow of natural gas from other regions, such as the southwest, eastern Canada and from the Midcontinent region, has been declining. There has been a 60 percent drop in natural gas inflows for the first nine months of the year, compared to 2008 inflows.  Despite a 56 percent decrease in net inflow from the Southeast in this period, approximately three-quarters of the gas […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Natural Gas Rises for 4th Straight Day on Winter Storm, Cold Weather Forecasts

Natural-gas futures finished higher Monday as traders bet that a powerful winter storm, moving toward the Eastern U.S., along with a period of below normal temperatures, would boost demand for the heating fuel. Natural gas for December delivery settled 2.1 cents, or 0.6%, higher at $3.789 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have risen 23.3 cents, or 6.6%, over the past four trading sessions. The gains Monday follow a nearly 3% climb last week as weather forecasts shifted toward a prolonged cold spell. Such an outlook is bullish for natural gas because nearly half of all U.S. households use the fuel as their primary heating source, according to the Energy Information Administration. “We finally got […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Marcellus shale gas Bradford Co Pennsylvania: production history and declines

From a standing start in 2009, natural gas production from the Marcellus Shale in Bradford County Pennsylvania (PA) now exceeds 2.2 billion cubic feet (bcf) per day from 728 wells (to end June 2013). To put this in perspective, the UK consumes about 8 bcf per day and so 4 Bradford counties (about 3000 wells) could make the UK self- sufficient. The catches are that Bradford County is a production sweet spot – you have to find the sweet spots before you can produce them. And to keep production going, over a hundred new wells need to be drilled every year. 6 charts below the fold show the production history, average well productivity and decline rates from Bradford County. Figure 1   This chart shows the production stack for 728 Marcellus shale gas wells, Bradford Co. PA. XL would only let me plot about 150 data series and so […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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EU shale gas production could add 1 million jobs, study says

The development of shale gas in Europe could add as many as 1 million jobs to the economy, make industry more competitive, and decrease the region’s dependence on energy imports, according to a recently released study commissioned by the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (OGP). The research, carried out by independent consultancies Poyry Management Consulting and Cambridge Econometrics, has quantified for the first time how much Europe’s economy could benefit from shale gas production, which could add a total of €1.7-3.8 trillion to the economy during 2020-50. “Europe is still in a period of difficult economic and social recovery. This new study shows that shale gas production could have significant economic benefits,” said Roland Festor, OGP’s European Union affairs director, adding that while it may not be a “game changer” as in the US, “shale gas development in Europe could take full advantage of the lessons learned.” […]

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Wood Mackenzie: China Winter Gas Shortages to Last through 2020

China is likely to see natural gas shortages every winter until the end of the decade as domestic production fails to keep up with demand, a factor likely to drive global liquefied natural gas prices higher, energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie said in a report released on Friday. Increased gas demand from China for heating has already helped lift spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices by over 20 percent since mid-September and will aggravate an already tight market for spot LNG cargoes. “Winter gas shortages will be exacerbated through to 2020 as seasonal demand growth in northern China increases at an annualised rate of approximately 16 percent per annum,” Gavin Thompson, Wood Mackenzie’s head analyst for Asia Pacific gas and power, said in the report. “(China’s increased LNG demand) will increase competition among Asian spot LNG buyers during peak demand periods and allow […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Natural Gas Ends at 4-Week High After Large Drop in Inventories

-Natural-gas futures settled at a four week high Thursday after government data showed strong residential heating demand pulled down gas inventories by more than expected last week. Continued expectations of strong near-term demand from a widespread cold snap pushed prices above $3.70 per million British thermal units, but the rally again stalled in that area, as some market players question how much prices can continue to climb in the near term. “Some people appear to be taking profit at around $3.70, despite strong signals out of the inventory data and the weather forecasts,” said Matt Smith, analyst at Schneider Electric in Lexington, Ky. Analysts said the market appears to have largely priced in a broad swath of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Saudis launch major gas drilling in Red Sea

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia, Nov. 21 (UPI) — Saudi Arabia is fast-tracking its first major offshore natural gas fields in the Red Sea, a high-priority project that’s seen as the start of a massive new energy program, off the kingdom’s west coast. The objective is to produce gas for power-generation to free up for export growing volumes of oil that are being used domestically to cope with a growing domestic demand. The kingdom’s giant state oil company, Aramco, has not disclosed any estimate of the Red Sea’s potential yet, “but there could be up to 100 billion barrels of oil equivalent under the sea bed,” observed analyst Persian Gulf analyst Kevin Baxter. That’s about equal to a 38 percent increase in the kingdom’s state oil reserves of 267 billion barrels, the largest in the world and overwhelmingly located on land in the Eastern province on the shores of the gulf […]

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Natural Gas Boosted By Near-Term Cold Weather Forecasts

.Natural gas futures climbed early Wednesday as traders hoped that forecasted cold weather would increase demand for gas-powered heating and help reduce natural gas stockpiles. Natural gas for December delivery rose 9.3 cents, or 2.62%, to $3.648 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have wavered this week as market participants have weighed colder forecasts, which could increase use of natural gas to heat homes and offices, against high production and supplies. A “series of cold polar air masses” are expected to hit the East Coast this week and next, and the central U.S. could see snow, according to private forecaster WSI Energycast. However, forecasts in the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple