LNG

April 12 (LNGJ) - Texas, one of the main hubs of future US LNG exports from around the Gulf Coast ports such as Freeport, Corpus Christi, Port Arthur and Brownsville, saw monthly natural gas output increase 3 percent year-on-year in February to nearly 638.5 billion cubic feet, according to the Texas Petro Index report from economist Karr Ingham. “With natural gas prices in February averaging $2.67 per 1,000 feet (Mcf), the value of Texas-produced gas increased about 40 percent to more than $2.34 billion,” said the report. The Baker Hughes count of active drilling rigs in Texas averaged 476 units, 28.6 percent more than in the same month of 2017. “An estimated average of 215,500 Texans remained on upstream oil and gas industry payrolls, about 13.8 percent more than the revised average of 189,400 in February 2017,” it added.

The Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, the largest in the US, said upstream oil and natural gas activity in the state had come to the end of “a punishing 24-month economic contraction”, adding momentum to the state’s extensive shale-gas plays and LNG developments.

Dec 5 (LNGJ) - The Texas Petro Index declined in October for the 23rd straight month, though just by 0.1 point to 149.1 as higher wellhead prices sparked more drilling and permitting activity, offsetting the effects of continuing oil and gas production declines. Feed-gas for future and current LNG exports come from Texas feed-gas among other sources. According to the TPI, natural gas prices in Texas this year through October were about 14.3 percent less on average than in the first 10 months of 2015. Prices in October averaged $2.91 per thousand cubic feet. Natural gas output in Texas during October was down about 8 percent compared with the same month in 2015, while gas production in Texas for the first 10 months was down about 6.5 percent compared with 2015. The posted price for West Texas Intermediate crude averaged $46.31 per barrel in October, the highest monthly average since July 2015.

June 1 (LNGJ) - The Texas Alliance of Energy Producers said estimated natural gas output in the state last month was about 710.3 billion cubic feet, a decline of about 2.6 percent compared with the same month a year ago. With natural gas prices in April averaging $1.76 per thousand feet, the value of Texas-produced gas declined 31.2 percent to about $1.25 billion. However. according to the Texas Petro Index (TPI), crude oil prices could be leading the industry to recovery as West Texas intermediate (WTI) crude was last at $48.65 per barrel since falling to a low of $22.75 per barrel on February 11, 2016. “It appears increasingly likely that we have seen the bottom, and that is certainly cause for some celebration and cautious optimism about where we are headed at this point,” said Karr Ingham, the economist who created the TPI and updates it monthly.