HOUSTON (Dow Jones)--Although EOG Resources Inc. (EOG) is increasingly seeking opportunities in oil, the company still believes that the North American natural gas market, hard-hit by low demand, has a profitable future, Chief Executive officer Mark Papa said Friday.
"We're making this shift because of the unique early mover opportunities" Papa said during an earnings conference call with analysts. "Not because we're running away from natural gas."
"We're bullish regarding 2010 and 2011 North American gas," Papa added.
Papa said that he expects the gas market to turn sometime in early 2010, regardless of what happens to the supply of liquefied natural gas, as production from vertical gas wells in Texas drops. Prices, however, will remain "quite low" through the end of 2009, he said.
The Houston-based independent oil and gas producer expects to begin its first gas sales from the Marcellus shale to begin in the fourth quarter, Papa said. The company added 1 rig to its operations there. The Marcellus shale is a gas-rich rock formation in the eastern U.S.
-By Angel Gonzalez, Dow Jones Newswires; 713-547-9214;angel.gonzalez@dowjones.com
No comments:
Post a Comment