The NGI staff, some of whom live in the Greater Houston area, understands the precarious nature of living and working in the Gulf Coast region, the breadbasket of the nation’s natural gas and oil industry. As Hurricane Laura bears down on Louisiana and Texas, we are thinking about the uncertainties ahead for our friends, neighbors…

Cheniere Energy Inc. temporarily suspended operations and evacuated personnel from its Sabine Pass liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Louisiana, with feed gas deliveries to the facilities declining ahead of the shutdown. NGI’s LNG Export Tracker shows feed gas volumes to Sabine Pass dropping to 745,478 Dth/d by Tuesday, off from 1,476,811 Dth/d on Sunday.

“Operating safely and responsibly to protect our employees, surrounding communities and the environment is our number one priority,” spokeswoman Jenna Palfrey told NGI. “During severe weather events like this, our teams and preparedness plans are activated, and the proper precautions are taken to protect both employees and operations.”

Likewise, Cameron LNG also saw a notable decline in feed gas deliveries, down to around 1.2 million Dth/d on Tuesday from about 1.6 million Dth/d on Sunday. Although the facility itself is designed to withstand a Category 5 hurricane, the company’s phased approach in managing...

In a shocking move that appears to be based on more than pure fundamentals, natural gas futures surged as much as 35.5 cents on Monday, busting out of their previous trading range and closing nearly 17% higher than Friday. The September contract reached a $2.154/MMBtu intraday high before going on to settle at $2.101, up 30.2 cents day/day. October jumped 28.2 cents to $2.239.

The Houston-based super independent, which issued its results Monday, curtailed 30,000 boe/d net during 2Q2020. Most of the reduced volumes, estimated at 80%, were curtailed in the Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin, with the remainder in the Permian Basin’s Delaware sub-basin. There were “minimal” curtailments in its third Lower 48 asset, the Eagle Ford Shale.

“With significant improvements to operating costs and netback pricing, the majority of curtailed volumes were brought back on production by the end of July,” management said in its 2Q2020 report. 

“Noble Energy’s second quarter results reflect strong operational execution against the backdrop of the challenging global economic environment that impacted financial outcomes across our industry,” CEO David Stover said. 

The company did not hold a conference call because of the pending merger with Chevron Corp., which is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.

More quarterly earnings...

Natural gas prices climbed higher in August bidweek trading as markets mulled prospects for ongoing seasonal cooling demand, strong power burns and robust Mexican export levels. NGI’s August Bidweek National Avg. rose 23.0 cents month/month to $1.680/MMBtu.

Apache Corp. has no plans to raise rigs again in the Permian Basin “unless oil prices recover well into the $50s,” CEO John Christmann said Thursday.

The Permian, which in recent years had been the Houston independent’s No. 1 prospect, continues to deliver “highly competitive economics,” Christmann said. However, “other areas within our portfolio offer more attractive investment options in a capital-constrained environment,” including Suriname, on the northern coast of South America.

Total global production in 2Q2020 was 435,000 boe/d. Apache chose to curtail 28,000 boe/d across its portfolio. It also shut-in an additional 7,000 boe/d because of unscheduled pipeline downtime at Alpine High. 

Overall, Alpine High curtailments and shut-ins averaged 19,000 boe/d during the quarter. Curtailments in other Permian assets peaked at 8,000 boe/d between April and June, with total output averaging 6,000 boe/d.

As prices have rebounded, some curtailed...

The diversified systems of two of North America’s largest midstream companies were positioned for a solid second quarter in which lower oil volumes were partially offset by strength in natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGL) and storage.

TC Energy Corp. expects the phased entrance into service of the 886 MMcf/d Tula-Villa de Reyes pipeline in Mexico to occur in the first half of 2021.

The delayed pipeline has been further held back by coronavirus contingency measures, which have impeded granting work authorizations because of administrative closures, executives said Thursday during a second quarter earnings call.

The new timetable is subject to the “timely reopening of government agencies,” executives said.

Upon completion, the 261-mile line would connect to TC’s operating Tamazunchale pipeline, and to the Tuxpan-Tula pipeline, whose construction has been held up by a pending indigenous consultation process by Mexican Energy Ministry Sener.

Earlier this year, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he would ask TC to seek an alternative route for the 56-mile middle section of Tuxpan-Tula, as work has not begun “because the people won’t allow it and in this case, the people are...

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported an injection of 26 Bcf into storage for the week ending July 24, a print that came in slightly above the average of major polls and pushed Nymex natural gas futures lower.

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In a filing Thursday (July 23) in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and DAPL disputed the Native American Tribes’ argument, filed earlier this month, that “temporarily shutting down the pipeline means that it will be marginally more expensive for some producers to ship oil out of North Dakota — nothing more.”

The Tribes, led by Standing Rock Sioux, noted that “oil production in North Dakota has fallen dramatically in recent months due to factors unrelated to this case” and said DAPL’s continued operation “exposes the Tribes to ‘catastrophic risks’ that have never been properly examined as the law requires.”

DAPL countered, indicating “there is little common sense support for the proposition that digging harder gets you out of a hole faster.” The “irreparable harm” of shutting down the 570,000 b/d pipeline “would be substantial.” It further argued that amending the vacatur order to allow an orderly shutdown “would not...

Permian Basin pure-play Ring Energy Inc., which in late April curtailed nearly all of its Delaware sub-basin output, is ramping up, with production now approaching 9,000 boe/d net.

In an update late Wednesday, the Midland, TX-based independent said it began flowing oil again in early June when commodity prices were improving and price differentials were decreasing. By the end of June, output had returned to near April levels.

The shut-ins reduced output through the first six months, with production set to decline by double-digits overall, CEO Kelly Hoffman said.

“In the absence of any new drilling and the shutting in and curtailment of essentially all the company’s production, our six month 2020 estimated production was less than 4% below 2019 six month production,” he said. 

“Assuming no additional drilling or curtailments in 2020, we estimate our 2020 annual production to decrease approximately 20% compared to 2019.”