It was a week where oil prices settled back under the $45-a-barrel level on bearish forecast by The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS, while natural gas futures settled higher on a positive inventory report. On the news front, the top story came from billionaire investor Carl Icahn’s additional stake buy in natural gas exporter Cheniere Energy Inc. LNG.

Overall, it was a mixed week for the sector. While West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 3.1% to close at $44.63 per barrel, natural gas prices rose 1.4% to $2.69 per million Btu (MMBtu). (See the last ‘Oil & Gas Stock Roundup’ here: Shell's $70B BG Buy Gets EU Nod, ConocoPhillips to Cut More Jobs.)

Oil prices fell for the first time in 3 weeks after Goldman Sachs slashed its outlook for the commodity through next year. The influential U.S. investment bank reduced its 2015 domestic crude estimate to $48.10 a barrel (down from $52) and lowered its 2016 forecast to $45 from $57. Worryingly, in its report, Goldman Sachs warned that crude could fall as low as $20 per barrel due to global oversupply.

Meanwhile, natural gas fared much better after the U.S. Energy Department's weekly inventory release showed a smaller-than-expected increase in the commodity’s supplies.

Recap of the Week’s Most Important Stories

1.    Shares of Houston-based natural gas company Cheniere Energy Inc. jumped almost 3% following the announcement that Carl Icahn has boosted his stake in the company. The activist investor spent slightly more than $1 billion to accumulate 19.4 million shares of Cheniere Energy, increasing his interest to 9.6% from 8.2% before.

Icahn believes that the shares of the firm are undervalued and hence have the potential to rise in the near future. In particular, he is confident about the Houston-based firm becoming the first company to export huge amounts of natural gas from the U.S. shale formations by the end of 2015.

Cheniere Energy also has contracts from natural gas buyers for a period of 20 years. Its first cargo should be ready for shipping by the end of this year. Another point that impressed Icahn is the company’s plan to construct its second export terminal at Corpus Christi, TX.

2.    Energy producer Hess Corp. HES was sued by the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands for more than $1 billion. The company faces charges of abandoning an oil refinery at St. Croix it had pledged to run through the year 2022. As alleged, there was a pattern of misconduct by Hess management and attempts to strip the facility's assets.

Hess used to run the refinery through its joint venture (JV) with Petróleos de Venezuela, the national oil company of Venezuela. The JV – christened Hovensa LLC – has also filed for bankruptcy. For operating the refinery, the company received billions of dollars in tax breaks from the territorial government. The case focuses on the terms of those tax breaks, which included conditions to promote the establishment and operate the refining.

The lawsuit also alleges that Hess entered into contracts that artificially boosted the cost of Venezuelan crude it purchased and suppressed the cost of the petroleum products the refinery sent to Hess gas stations along the East Coast.

3.    Energy major Royal Dutch Shell plc RDS.A has decided to call off its Westward Ho pipeline project which would have transported crude oil from St. James, LA to Houston.

The pipeline was anticipated to start operating this year with its peak capacity being 900,000 barrels each day. However, waning shipper interest in the pipeline owing to challenging business conditions has compelled Shell to scrap the project.

Another reason behind the energy major’s exit from the planned project is that other pipelines have already started transporting significant amounts of crude to the Houston area. (See More: Shell Junks Westward Ho Project on Waning Shipper Interest.)

4.    In such trying times when many energy sector companies have been forced to either cut or suspend payouts to mitigate financial woes, pipeline operator Williams Companies Inc. WMB has announced an increase in its quarterly cash payment.

Williams has declared third-quarter 2015 dividend of 64 cents per share ($2.56 annualized), up 14% from the prior-year quarter and 8.5% sequentially. The hike is in accordance with the company’s dividend guidance provided during the last quarter earnings. (See More: Williams Companies Increases Quarterly Dividend.)

5.    Houston, TX-based U.S. refining major Phillips 66 PSX announced plans to invest more funds in its joint venture (“JV”) with Spectra Energy Corp. The JV, DCP Midstream LLC, is equally owned by the two companies.

Phillips 66 will contribute $1.5 billion in cash to help pay off the outstanding debt under its revolving credit facility for this JV. Also, Spectra will contribute one-third of its ownership interest in the Sand Hills and Southern Hills NGL pipelines. The transaction is expected to close in fourth-quarter 2015. Further, it is intended to bolster DCP Midstream's balance sheet and increase its financial flexibility. (See More: Phillips 66 Increases Investment in DCP Midstream.) 

Price Performance

The following table shows the price movement of the major oil and gas players over the past week and during the last 6 months.

Over the course of last week, the best performer was refining giant Valero Energy Corp. VLO that added 3.1% to its stock price, while the biggest loser was U.S. energy explorer Occidental Petroleum Corp., which fell 4% during the period.

Over the last 6 months, another downstream operator Tesoro Corp. was the chief beneficiary on the bourses with its shares gaining 6.2% even amid the dismal oil price scenario. On the other hand, U.S. supermajor Chevron Corp. was the laggard, as it witnessed a 26.5% price decline over the same time frame.

What’s Next in the Energy World?

Apart from the usual releases in this week – the U.S. government data on oil and natural gas – market participants will be closely tracking a series of crucial economic reports, including those on retail sales, industrial production and CPI.

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