Actively

Louisiana’s Mineral and Energy Board collected more than $11.5 million in bonuses in its March lease sale in which buyers heavily favored tracts in South Louisiana as opposed to the northern part of the state.

In Arkansas, home to the Fayetteville Shale, state Rep. Kathy Webb (D-Little Rock) has introduced a quintet of bills targeting the natural gas industry for greater scrutiny of drilling operations. The content of the proposed legislation shows that the lawmaker has hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on her mind.

A Louisiana government official’s statement that the state will see a decrease in tax revenues in coming years due to natural gas drillers moving their operations from taxable areas in South Louisiana to tax-exempt fields in North Louisiana “could not be further from the truth,” according to Louisiana Oil & Gas Association (LOGA) President Don Briggs.

The Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC) and the Ground Water Protection Council (GWPC) have launched an effort to disseminate information on chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) Chairman Victor G. Carrillo announced.

The number of rigs actively searching for natural gas in North America continues to decline, but the rate of the decline did decrease from the previous week, according to Baker Hughes’ rig count for the week ending April 24.

The number of rigs actively exploring for natural gas and oil continues to slow, with the U.S. rig count flat at 1,941 as of Friday after losing a record 51 rigs the week before. Canada operators laid down another 18 rigs last week, Baker Hughes Inc. reported Friday.

In a sign of things to come, the number of rigs actively exploring for natural gas and oil in the United States dropped by 51 last week to 1,941, according to Baker Hughes Inc. The rigs being laid down are in some of the biggest gas-producing areas: Texas dropped 23 rigs, Louisiana, 13; New Mexico, 12; and Oklahoma lost six.

President Bush Tuesday dismissed Democrats’ claims that domestic producers are not actively pursuing their oil and natural gas leases and that excessive speculation is responsible for escalating crude oil prices.

Sempra Energy continues to actively seek long-term supply deals that will allow it to begin construction of its proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal on part of the 2,900 acres it owns at Port Arthur, TX. But currently there are no pending contracts to announce, a San Diego-based Sempra spokesperson told NGI.