Forecast & Analysis

Chesapeake Succession Question Spooks Investors

(Dow Jones) Despite the turmoil surrounding Chesapeake Energy (CHK) and its CEO Aubrey McClendon, no clear successor is apparent in case of the CEO ever stepping down... Full Story

Bakken Oil Producers May Rail Against Pipelines

(Dow Jones) Rail companies may chug oil profits in North Dakota even after pipelines get built... Full Story

Europe's Oil Refiners Grab Window of Opportunity

By Konstantin Rozhnov Of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Stepped-up production from European oil refiners returning from spring maintenance could help keep a lid on gasoline prices in the short term... Full Story

First India Shale Gas Seen in 4 Years, China Output Nears

By Rakteem Katakey - May 17, 2012 Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) of India and competitors may drill for at least four years before producing the first commercial shale gas in the nation as China expects to commence output next month and Australia boosts reserves... Full Story

Chesapeake’s rivals circle ahead of sales

By Ed Crooks Opaque accounting, strained liquidity, large off-balance sheet liabilities, questionable corporate governance: Chesapeake Energy ticks all of the boxes for a company that investors should beware of... Full Story

Shell: Liquid Shales Could Have Big Impact On Energy Mix

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Shale rock formations that contain liquid hydrocarbons as well as natural gas could have a "significant" impact on world energy supplies but it is too early to say for sure, a senior Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB) executive said Thursday... Full Story

Top News Stories

Weekly Natural Gas Storage Data

Working gas in storage was 2,667 Bcf as of Friday, May 11, 2012, according to EIA estimates. This represents a net increase of 61 Bcf from the previous week. Stocks were 774 Bcf higher than last year at this time and 773 Bcf above the 5-year average of 1,894 Bcf... Full Story

US Asks G-8 For Support For Release Of Strategic Oil Reserves -Kyodo

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES The U.S. government wants the other Group of Eight economies to prepare to release strategic oil reserves in view of the European Union's ban on crude oil imports from Iran beginning in July, Kyodo News reported Wednesday, citing sources close to Japan-U.S. ties... Full Story

Iranian 'Engineers' Kidnapped In Syria Freed, Tehran Says

TEHRAN (AFP)--Tehran said on Wednesday that two of five Iranian "engineers" abducted in Syria had been freed... Full Story

Taxing CO2 Would Help EU Debt Crisis, Former Ministers Say

By Mathew Carr - May 16, 2012 Taxing carbon emissions and the consumption of fossil fuels would help Europe overcome its sovereign-debt crisis and help protect the climate, said four former ministers including Hans Eichel, Germany’s minister of finance from 1999 to 2005... Full Story

Iraq Replaces Iran As India's Second-Largest Crude-Oil Supplier

By Rakesh Sharma and Santanu Choudhury Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW DELHI (Dow Jones)--Iraq replaced Iran as India's second-largest crude-oil supplier in the recently ended financial year, preliminary government data showed Wednesday, as New Delhi cut shipments from Tehran ahead of impending... Full Story

US OIL INVENTORIES: Crude Stocks Climb More Than Expected

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--U.S. crude inventories rose more than analysts' expectations last week, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Energy. Crude-oil stockpiles rose 2.1 million barrels to 381... Full Story

Financial

US GAS: Futures Drop As Inventory Build Is Bigger Than Expected

By David Bird Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Natural gas futures prices dropped a modest 0.9% on Thursday, as U.S. data showed a larger-than-expected rise in inventory last week... Full Story

OIL FUTURES: Oil Benchmarks Move Closer Together, Even As They Fall

By Christian Berthelsen Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Operators of a pipeline that will transport crude from its U.S. Midwest storage hub to the Gulf Coast's refinery complex announced it will open the spigots this weekend... Full Story

US Spot Crude: Premiums Mixed In Moderate Trading

LOS ANGELES (Dow Jones)--Premiums for June delivery of Gulf Coast crude were mixed in moderate trading on Thursday as June Nymex crude fell another 25 cents a barrel and settled at $92.56. July Nymex fell a like amount to $92.94... Full Story

OIL FUTURES: Crude Futures Up, But Fundamentals Remain Weak

By Christian Berthelsen Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Oil futures rose with the market open Thursday, recovering slightly from a decline the day before and at least temporarily arresting a slide that has knocked more than 15% off of prices since the start of March... Full Story

US GAS: Futures Drop As Inventory Build Is Bigger Than Expected

By David Bird Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Losses deepened in natural gas futures prices at mid-morning Thursday after U.S. data showed a larger-than-expected rise in inventory last week. Natural gas for June delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange was 10... Full Story

US GAS: Futures Rise 4.7% To Reach Seven-Week High

By Ben Lefebvre Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES HOUSTON (Dow Jones)--Natural gas futures jumped 4.7% Wednesday, reaching a seven-week high, on expectations of increased demand from the nation's power plants. Prices rose in anticipation that the U.S... Full Story

Releases

Enbridge, Enterprise Finish Seaway Pipeline Reversal

HOUSTON (Dow Jones)--Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPD) and Enbridge Inc. (ENB) completed the much awaited reversal of the Seaway pipeline Thursday, setting the stage for crude oil to flow from a critical storage hub to the Gulf Coast refining hub... Full Story

Vale Said to Hire Citigroup, Scotiabank for Oil Assets Sale

By Cristiane Lucchesi and Juan Pablo Spinetto - May 17, 2012 Vale SA (VALE3), the world’s largest iron-ore producer, hired Bank of Nova Scotia and Citigroup Inc... Full Story

BP And Sempra U.S. Gas & Power Announce Plans To Jointly Develop Hawaii Wind Farm

SAN DIEGO, May 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Sempra U.S. Gas & Power and BP Wind Energy today announced plans to jointly develop the Auwahi Wind farm in Hawaii... Full Story

Sunoco Philadelphia Refinery Crude Unit Seen at Planned Rate by Weekend -Source

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--A crude unit at Sunoco Inc.'s (SUN) Philadelphia refining complex is expected to reach its planned operating rate by the weekend, a person familiar with operations at the plant said Thursday... Full Story

E.ON To Sell Gas Grid Unit To Macquarie Consortium For EUR3.2B

By Jan Hromadko Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES FRANKFURT (Dow Jones)--German utility E.ON AG (EOAN.XE) said Wednesday it has agreed to sell its natural-gas transmission grid to a consortium led by Australian bank Macquarie Group Ltd.'s (MQG.AU) infrastructure funds, in a deal worth EUR3.2 billion... Full Story

Kuwait Petroleum Net Profit Up On Improvements In Production

BEIRUT (Zawya Dow Jones)--State-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corp., which consolidates the local public sector oil companies, said net profit for the year ending March 31 rose 9.1% on the year to about 2.2 billion Kuwaiti dinars ($7... Full Story

Weather

La Nina ends, return unlikely in 2012 - WMO

GENEVA (Reuters) - The 2011-2012 La Nina weather pattern, blamed for drought in Texas and severe dry spells in South America, has ended and is unlikely to return this year, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Wednesday... Full Story

NOAA: Above Normal June-August Temperatures Seen In Southern Half Of US

By David Bird Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Above-normal temperatures are expected to stretch across the southern half of the U.S. in June through August, U.S. government forecasters said Thursday... Full Story

National Hurricane Center Tracking Two Pre-Season Storms

By Brian K. Sullivan - May 14, 2012 The National Hurricane Center is tracking two pre-season storms in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans today... Full Story