2011

Oil and natural gas regulators in Wyoming on Tuesday initiated a rulemaking process for exploration and production (E&P) operators regarding water testing as part of the drilling permit application process.

An Oklahoma tax break for horizontal wells enacted in 2010 is depriving the Sooner State of revenue that could beef up its rainy day fund and should be reconsidered, the state’s secretary of finance and revenue said.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett signed 29 bills into law on Tuesday, including SB 259, which the state’s chapter of the National Association of Royalty Owners (NARO) has derided as “a kissing cousin to forced pooling.”

A national organization that supports oil and gas leaseholders is furious that Pennsylvania legislators passed a bill that its members claim would allow forced pooling in the state. They are urging people to contact Gov. Tom Corbett to get a veto.

Williams’ board has voted to approve the company’s Bluegrass Pipeline project. The company has been engaged in development work on the proposed natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline, which has a targeted in-service date of late 2015. The Bluegrass Pipeline will connect supply from the Marcellus and Utica shales to growing petrochemical and export markets in the U.S. Gulf Coast (see Shale Daily, May 30; March 7). The pipeline also will connect NGL supply with the developing petrochemical market in the U.S. Northeast. Williams and Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP in May formalized joint-venture agreements tied to the project and related fractionation, storage and export projects.

XTO Energy Inc.’s natural gas liquids (NGL) recovery facility in Butler County, PA, has entered service processing wet gas from Marcellus and Utica shale drilling in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Connecting the wells only addresses part of the problem with flaring of natural gas in North Dakota’s Bakken and Three Forks formations; it’s no help if there’s a lack of takeaway and processing capacity.

The horizontal natural gas drilling boom drove a long production growth period, but that boom topped out in September 2011, and overall monthly production has remained basically flat since then, analysts at Stephen Smith Energy Associates said in their most recent Monthly Energy Outlook. And while the number of horizontal gas rigs has fallen about 70% from its peak, several effects have worked to maintain the 18-month production plateau, they said.

The horizontal natural gas drilling boom drove a long production growth period, but that boom topped out in September 2011, and overall monthly production has remained basically flat since then, analysts at Stephen Smith Energy Associates said in their most recent Monthly Energy Outlook. And while the number of horizontal gas rigs has fallen about 70% from its peak, several effects have worked to maintain the 18-month production plateau, they said.