38 Active Rigs In North Dakota -- February 18, 2106

Active rigs (I track "active rigs" here), "North Dakota Oil History" recaps Baker Hughes count of active rigs in the Bakken:

	2/18/2016	02/18/2015	02/18/2014	02/18/2013	02/18/2012
Active Rigs	38	130	185	180	199

RBN Energy: New Export Supply from Down Under and the U.S. The series continues (archived).

Demand for liquefied natural gas has been flat recently, but liquefaction/LNG export capacity is on the rise. The resulting supply/demand imbalance along with the crash in crude oil prices has sent LNG prices to unexpectedly low levels, and raises questions about the competitiveness of all the new Australian and U.S. projects coming online in 2016-20. Today, we continue our examination of the fast-changing international market for LNG with a look at the new capacity being added to an already saturated LNG market, and how U.S. LNG exporters might fare in a hyper-competitive world.

This is Episode 3 in our series about recent developments in the international LNG market. The series’ aim is to describe the market’s changing supply/demand dynamics, and how they are likely to affect U.S. natural gas producers and LNG exporters in particular. In Episode 1, we recapped how the decisions to convert four U.S. LNG import terminals to liquefaction/LNG export terminals (and to build a greenfield liquefaction/export terminal in Corpus Christi, TX) were spurred by expectations that gas from the Marcellus, the Eagle Ford and other prolific shale plays would be so plentiful (and so inexpensive) that the U.S. could help meet a significant share of what was then seen as fast-growing worldwide LNG demand.

We also laid out several factors that will help determine how U.S. players—gas producers, midstream companies and LNG exporters—will fare in the very different market (low oil and LNG prices, flat LNG demand, too much liquefaction capacity) that emerged instead.

Then, in Episode 2, we delved into the LNG demand side of things, noting that in 2015, imports of LNG by Japan, South Korea and others inched up only 2% (one-third the pace once expected), to about 250 million metric tons per annum (MTPA), the equivalent of 32 Bcf/d of natural gas. We also explained why 2016 is likely to shape up as another flat year (weak demand in Japan, South Korea and China), and why—longer term at least—there’s reason to believe that LNG demand may rise more quickly (India, Europe and Latin America, to name three potential bright spots).

Continuing this story, today The Wall Street Journal reports: Cheniere Readies First LNG Shipment, Facing Challenging Market. U.S. natural-gas exports start as overseas demand for LNG is slowing --

The first ship carrying natural gas from the Gulf Coast is expected to depart soon, marking the emergence of the U.S. as a major exporter and the globalization of the once highly regionalized gas trade.

But the debut of a shale-fueled gas-export industry is raising questions about whether too many sellers are chasing too few buyers, deepening another boom-and-bust cycle. The price of liquefied natural gas has dropped 50% over the past year in Asia, the world’s largest and traditionally most lucrative market for LNG.

The destination of the Gulf Coast gas is likely to be South America, with Petróleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) in negotiations to buy the cargo—which could depart the Louisiana bayou as early as next week, according to people familiar with the transaction.

It also comes as the company behind the effort, Cheniere Energy Inc., tries to right itself after a messy boardroom drama that led to the firing of Chief Executive Charif Souki in December.

Since then, Cheniere—under the leadership of its board of directors—has scaled back the company’s ambitions set by Mr. Souki, laying off an oil-trading team that he had recruited to expand the business and filing a lawsuit earlier this month to claw back $46 million of company funds he invested in what people familiar with the suit say was his friend’s firm.