Michael Giberson
Kristen Hays reports on the current natural gas supply conditions in the Houston Chronicle: rig counts down, production remains strong, and natural gas in storage is increasing. The US Department of Energy predicts natural gas consumption will fall 2.2 percent this year and grow slightly in 2010.
While drilling rigs are being shut down, as one analyst observed, when times are hard you shut down the marginal plays first and hang on to the most promising locations. That logic is one reason that production remains strong.
ALSO in the Houston Chronicle, Rob Bradley, Jr. praises ExxonMobil’s strategy of focusing on oil and gas and staying out of renewable energy, despite the call of dissident shareholders who want the company to branch out. Last fall the New York Times ran a profile of Exxon that highlighted this aspect of the company’s strategy and noted the company’s reputation as one of the world’s best managed large companies.