Here is a big tip of the hat to CEO Harold Korell and his whole team at Southwestern Energy Corp. in Houston.

Houston-based Waterborne Energy Inc., a consulting firm that tracks the liquefied natural gas sector of the industry, says major shifts are afoot in the global market this year.

It’s too early to get a handle on the economics of the Eagle Ford shale play, led by Petrohawk Energy Corp. in South Texas, “but that is an exciting shale to watch,” says Jeb Armstrong, senior oil and gas E&P analyst for Calyon Securities (USA) Inc. in New York.

According to Ernst & Young, if you’re an E&P company duking it out in today’s turbulent economic environment, you fall into one of three categories...

A coworker of mine said last week that oil prices might get as low as $15. I denied this would happen, arguing that prices wouldn’t fall below $40. Well loyal reader, here we are with oil at $36. Yeah, that sound you heard is my jaw dropping.

Last week, the Baker Hughes gas-directed rig count declined by 80. The yearend gas rig count of 1,267 is decidedly lower than expectations, says Stephen Richardson, analyst at Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc.