Activity

Houston-based Sanchez Energy Corp. is buying producing acreage in the Eagle Ford Shale for $265 million that will more than double current company-wide production and increase proved reserves by 63%.

Although drilling activity in the Marcellus Shale has slowed and some producers have dropped rigs, there is enough of a drilling backlog that, if wells were brought online over a one-year period, production would continue to grow but at a slower pace, energy analysts with Barclays Capital said.

Houston-based Halcon Resources Corp., which became a public company about a year ago, has been building acreage positions in several unconventional oil and gas plays and last year grew proved reserves to 108.8 million boe, an increase of 417% from the end of 2011.

With exploration and production (E&P) activity heating up along the eastern border of Montana as an extension of the North Dakota oil and natural gas boom, state lawmakers in the Big Sky state have proposed about a half-dozen new laws to deal with the impact on the local communities in the region.

If left unaddressed, pipeline shortfalls will put Canada’s oil industry at risk and will have “substantial negative impact” on the country’s economy, according to a report issued by the Canada West Foundation (CWF).

Infrastructure projects, acquisitions and contracting activity — particularly in the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas — served to lift crude oil pipeline throughputs for NuStar GP Holdings LLC last year. Some of NuStar’s South Texas pipeline assets had been underutilized.

Energy analysts and the market weighed in Wednesday on the news that natural gas pioneer and industry cheerleader Aubrey K. McClendon, co-founder, CEO and president of Chesapeake Energy Corp., is retiring effective April 1. His departure would end one point of controversy, but it won’t solve the problems facing the producer, according to some.

During the third quarter, Houston-based Rosetta Resources Inc. quickened its pace in the Eagle Ford Shale where it grew production 68% from the year-ago level; production was also wetter. Management also disclosed Thursday that the company is testing two new areas outside of the Eagle Ford.

During the third quarter, Southwestern Energy Co. grew natural gas and oil production by 12% from a year ago. Costs associated with its Fayetteville Shale activities declined while well results there improved. Marcellus Shale production more than doubled from a year ago, and the company continues to find its way in the emerging Brown Dense play.