Acre

A unit of NET Holdings Management LLC has struck a long-term, fee-based gas transportation agreement with Murphy Exploration & Production Co. — USA that includes a 100,000-acre dedication in the dry gas window of the Eagle Ford Shale, NET said Monday.

Newfield Exploration Co. late Monday said it has agreed to buy 50,000 net acres in the Marcellus Shale from EOG Resources Inc. in a transaction valued at $405 million.

Just two days after Gov. Ed Rendell placed a moratorium on drilling on state forest land, Pennsylvania’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) and Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced a new policy requiring well operators working on state park and forest land to identify all areas of their tracts that will be disturbed by development activities.

Oklahoma City-based GMX Resources Inc. plans to begin a drilling program in its Haynesville Shale and Bossier Shale holdings during 3Q2008. At 80-acre density, GMX estimates it would have five years of development on its 27,500 net acres. GMX plans to bump up its capital spending in 2008 to $271 million from $195 million, which would allow it to drill up to four to six net horizontal wells in the shale acreage. The new capital expenditure budget includes acreage acquisition costs, infrastructure build-out and equipment upgrades in East Texas and northwestern Louisiana. The company also increased its 2008 guidance for discretionary cash flow to $100 million, up from $80 million. Revenue is now forecast at $140 million, down from $125 million. In addition, production is seen to increase to 7.8 Bcfe in the second half of 2008 and is forecast to be 13.8 Bcfe for the full year. Daily production rates are expected to be 60 MMcfe/d by year’s end, up from previous guidance of 42 MMcfe/d.

More aggressive bidding was just one of the themes that emerged during the record-breaking Minerals Management Service (MMS) Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 206, according to consultant Wood Mackenzie.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. recently initiated production of approximately 30 MMcfe/d of gas from the first 11 wells on its 18,000-acre Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) International Airport lease, the company said last week.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. recently initiated production of approximately 30 MMcfe/d of gas from the first 11 wells on its 18,000-acre Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) International Airport lease, the company said Tuesday.

Equitable Resources Inc. and Range Resources Corp. have formed a joint venture to develop a 300,000-acre natural gas field in southwestern Virginia. Under the plan, Range will pay Equitable $315 million to equalize their interests in the Nora Field, which is located near the Big Sandy shale natural gas field in Kentucky and West Virginia.

Range Resources Corp. and Equitable Resources said Friday they have equalized their interests in a joint venture to develop the 300,000-acre Nora natural gas field in southwestern Virginia. The companies announced the partnership last month to develop the field, which is located near the Big Sandy field in Kentucky and West Virginia (see Daily GPI, April 17).