Acreage

Halcon Resources Corp. said it has acquired more than 50,000 net acres of leasehold in an Eagle Ford Shale play in East Texas, and plans to eventually triple its presence and invest $100 million there this year.

A flash fire Thursday evening at a pig receiving station in Tyler County, WV, injured three people and forced Eureka Hunter Pipeline to shut in a portion of its pipeline system in the area, according to parent Magnum Hunter Resources Corp.

The Marcellus Shale today is the largest U.S. natural gas production region, with output of more than 7 Bcf/d, which has led to a “significant, positive” impact on early movers, but some operators continue to underperform share-wise in the play, according to IHS Inc.

Triangle Petroleum Corp. recorded the first profitable quarter in its history, is on track to meet its oil production goal for the year and is excited about its new joint venture (JV) in the Bakken Shale, even as it keeps at the ready plans to drop a drilling rig should policymakers in Washington, DC, fail to reach a compromise over the fiscal cliff.

The Mancos Shale plays in the Piceance and San Juan basins in Colorado and New Mexico are a potential gold mine of low-cost natural gas supplies, according to an executive from Rapid City, SD-based Black Hills Corp., who spoke Wednesday to Wall Street analysts at the J.P. Morgan SMid Cap Conference.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. has completed sales of its Permian Basin properties, which allows it to reduce the outstanding balance on existing term loans to $1.2 billion from $4 billion by the end of this month. The company said it plans to fully repay the term loans by the end of the year. The assets sold produced close to 21,000 b/d of liquids and 90 MMcf/d of natural gas in 2Q2012, or about 5.7% of Chesapeake’s production during the period. The multi-sales package was announced in September (see Shale Daily, Sept. 13). SWEPI LP, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc, bought the southern Delaware Basin assets, while the northern Delaware Basin portion was sold to Chevron U.S.A. Inc., a subsidiary of Chevron Corp. The producing assets in the Midland Basin were sold to affiliates of Houston-based EnerVest Ltd.

Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. on Thursday said international energy companies OIL India Ltd. and Indian Oil Corp. Ltd. (IOC) will make their first foray into U.S. shale by taking a 30% stake in the Houston operator’s holdings in the Niobrara Formation of Colorado.

Permits and production are soaring in the Niobrara Shale where Chesapeake Energy is indicating it has unlocked some important finds as it eyes the play as a significant contributor to its strategy for expanding its production of natural gas liquids (NGL).

Continental Resources Inc.’s shareholders have approved the company’s purchase of Wheatland Oil Inc.’s core assets in the Bakken Shale, a stock deal valued at about $276 million.