Carolyn Davis

A U.S. unit of Royal Dutch Shell plc has hit another discovery in the Norphlet formation in the eastern deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), its third successful well in the play.

The U.S. natural gas and oil industry should see higher and more sustainable growth over the coming decade as production growth and efficiency improvements create a paradigm shift, Raymond James & Associates Inc. analysts said Monday.

Total natural gas and oil production from the six most prolific Lower 48 unconventional basins is expected to increase between July and August, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Monday in its Drilling Productivity Report.

U.S. onshore natural gas production, particularly in the Marcellus Shale, is expected to strengthen through August as drilling productivity rises, according to the latest Drilling Productivity Report issued by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Chevron Corp. sold more than $500 million of its global assets between April and May, which should lift second quarter profits but do little to increase global production, the oil major said Thursday.

U.S. Silica Holdings Inc. has received approval from the town of Fairchild, WI, to begin development of a 3 million ton/year hydraulic fracturing (fracking) sand mine and plant, which would deliver product to operators via Union Pacific Railroad.

Investors are banking on increasing U.S. onshore condensate supplies as an impetus to push for exports, but by 2015, startups in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) may back out even more waterborne crude imports than incremental tight oil supplies, Barclays Capital analysts said Friday.

Occidental Petroleum Corp. (Oxy), which is preparing to spin off California operations and relocate worldwide headquarters to Houston, has appointed Todd A. Stevens, 47, as president and CEO for California Resources Corp. (CRC). William E. Albrecht, 62, was named executive chairman for the independent producer, which plans to focus exclusively on California exploration. Stevens is a 19-year veteran of Oxy, having served as vice president of corporate development since August 2012. Albrecht, who has been responsible for Oxy’s oil and gas operations in North and South America, has been president of the Oil and Gas-Americas unit since 2011. Oxy filed spin-off plans with the Securities and Exchange Commission in June (see Daily GPI,June 6). Once completed, CRC would hold 2.3 million net acres, 8,655 producing wells and about 15,185 additional net drilling sites in California.

With Oregon’s natural gas storage at its lowest level since 2003, three of the state’s gas providers told regulators this week they expect gas prices to head higher this fall.