Active Rigs Down To 87 -- April 24, 2015; Jobless Claims Have Risen For Three Straight Weeks But Labor Market "Solidly Improving" -- Reuters, Bloomberg

Jobless claims: forecast - 287,000. Actual, surges to 295,000 -- but that's only an increase of 1,000 from previous week. So, if I got the math right, it went from 294K to 295K, but the analysts forecast 287K, a decrease of 7,000. In fact, initial claims increased a bit.

And the spin over at Bloomberg was in the first paragraph:Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits held below 300,000 for the seventh straight week, pointing to a rebound in payrolls after hiring eased last month. 
And now we're starting to see the four-week average also rise, up to 284,500 from 282,750 the week prior.

Reuters had the same spin:  The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits rose last week for a third straight week, but the underlying trend continued to point to a solidly improving labor market.

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Active rigs:

	4/23/2015	04/23/2014	04/23/2013	04/23/2012	04/23/2011
Active Rigs	87	187	188	212	175

RBN Energy: The End of the Displacement – Are Net Natural Gas Inflows into the U.S. Northeast History?

The U.S. Northeast natural gas market thus far has been able to offset local production growth primarily by pushing out supply from other regions.  But recent trends in pipeline flows suggest that for the first time, net flows into the Northeast will fall to zero this summer, marking the end of displacement. Meanwhile, regional natural gas production could be as much as 4 Bcf/d higher this summer than last. The result could put this summer’s prices in a precarious position further challenging producers suffering in an oversupplied market. . Today’s blog looks at recent trends in Northeast flows and implications for prices this summer.
  
The Northeast traditionally has sourced gas via pipelines from three adjoining regions: Southeast/Gulf Coast, Midwest and Canada. 

Back in 2009, before Marcellus production emerged as a supply source, there was almost no local production in the Northeast and inbound flows from these regions served nearly 80% of Northeast demand. 

As Marcellus production grew, pipelines took on backhauls, with Northeast receipts displacing flows from traditional sources of supply in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana.  The pipelines bringing this gas to the Northeast either began to run empty or, when possible in the case of bidirectional pipelines, began flowing some supply in the other direction. In fact, since new pipeline capacity can take years to build, the only way Marcellus gas production could have expanded as fast as it has and remain economically viable, was by displacing existing inflows. 

This local demand buffer has provided some breathing space for midstream players to develop pipeline projects to facilitate outbound exports from the Northeast. However, local Marcellus/Utica production has been increasingly outstripping demand  before enough of those projects can come online to transport surplus supplies to other market centers.

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Targa Increases Dividend

From a press release:

Targa Resources Corp. announced today that its board of directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of 83.00c per common share, or $3.32 on an annualized basis, for the first quarter 2015. The approved dividend represents increases of approximately 7% over the previous quarter's dividend and 28% over the dividend for the first quarter 2014.

This cash dividend will be paid May 18, 2015 on all outstanding common shares to holders of record as of the close of business on May 4, 2015.

Targa Resources Partners LP announced today that the board of directors of its general partner has declared a quarterly cash distribution of 82.00c per common unit, or $3.28 on an annualized basis, for the first quarter 2015.

The approved distribution represents increases of approximately 1.2% over the previous quarter's distribution and 7.5% over the distribution for the first quarter 2014. This cash distribution will be paid May 15, 2015 on all outstanding common units to holders of record as of the close of business on May 4, 2015. "We completed our mergers with Atlas during the first quarter, and are very pleased with the asset.