The Associated Press March 22, 2010, 4:45PM ET
EVERGREEN, Colo.
Natural gas production from the Marcellus Shale formation in the Appalachian Basin is expected to nearly double by 2014 and could contribute to lower prices in the Northeast, an energy markets information company said Monday.
Bentek Energy LLC's research indicates natural gas production in the Appalachian Basin will expand from 2.2 billion cubic feet per day as of last year into a range between 4 billion cubic per day and 6 billion cubic feet per day by 2014.
With new pipelines in the planning stages to move the gas, customers likely will shift to the Appalachian-produced gas from supplies now delivered into the Northeast from other parts of the country, the Gulf of Mexico and Canada, Russell Braziel, Bentek's managing director, said in a statement.
In turn, that likely will cause Northeast price premiums to shrink while price spreads for gas produced in other areas will tighten, he stated.
"As a result, natural gas markets will be on a more level playing field from coast to coast," Braziel said.
The Marcellus Shale is a massive formation in parts of New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio.
Bentek is based in Evergreen, just west of Denver.
Three companies that have operations in the Marcellus Shale region are Chesapeake Energy, Rex Energy Corp. and Cabot Oil and Gas Corp.
Shares of Chesapeake Energy fell 97 cents, or 4 percent to close at $23.24 and Cabot fell 59 cents to close at $37.55. Shares of Rex Energy rose 30 cents to close at $12.57.
Source: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9EJTDU80.htm
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