Since the beginning of 2012, hardly a quarterly earnings/operations report from an energy company, nor a story about natural prices, has failed to point out how drillers are now focused on “wet gas” areas in shale plays. For the Marcellus and Utica region, that means a shift from drilling in northeast PA to southwest PA, northern WV and eastern Ohio, where wet gas  deposits are found. Wet gas simply means there are extra hydrocarbons that come out of the bore hole along with “dry gas,” i.e. methane. Wet gas hydrocarbons include propane and ethane.

A story in today’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette chronicles the rapid drop in the commodity price for both propane and ethane because of increasing supplies from shale gas drilling. It feels like the dry gas price story all over again. Too much supply, not enough demand.

Read More “Is Wet Gas Following Dry Gas Over a Price Cliff?”

The Gulf of Mexico has traditionally been a big source for both oil and natural gas for the U.S. When hurricanes blow through the Gulf and shut down oil and gas rigs, the markets always respond. That is, until now.

Even though Hurricane Isaac took an eerily similar path to Katrina (from 2005), and although nearly 3/4 of natural gas production coming from rigs in the Gulf was “shut-in” (or stopped, in lay terms), how did the markets respond? Gas futures prices went up 2%—hardly a blip. Why? Because of an abundance of shale gas—including (particularly) an abundant supply of shale gas from the Marcellus.

Read More “Importance of Off-Shore Gas Decreases with Rise of Shale Gas”