Activity

Reflecting a growing caution in the oil/natural gas sector to temblors, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) has ordered changes in a wastewater injection site in Weld County, asserting that actions at the location are deemed to be potentially related to nearby low-level seismic activity.

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) on Tuesday ordered operation of a wastewater disposal well to cease temporarily while recent seismic activity in Weld County is assessed to determine whether there is a link to the well.

Minor earthquakes blamed on drilling waste disposal wells have been shaking up small towns overlying the Barnett Shale of North Texas for a while now. On Monday, state lawmakers put their ears to the ground during the first hearing of a subcommittee formed on the matter, hearing from local mayors, academic, environmental, regulatory and industry representatives.

Concluding there could be a tie to oil and natural gas production activity, U.S. and Oklahoma Geological Survey officials jointly reported Monday that 145 3.0-magnitude or stronger earthquakes have occurred in the state so far this year.

Considering the amount of fracking going on in the United States, any coincident increase in related seismic activity is relatively small, an engineering professor and fracking entrepreneur told an audience at the Conference of Western Attorneys General’s Colorado Energy Summit on Wednesday.

More stable commodity prices, private equity (PE) interest and a more focused portfolio approach by explorers led to a healthy merger and acquisition (M&A) market for oil and natural gas in the first quarter, with the United States taking more than a one-third share.

More earthquakes jolted parts of central Oklahoma Saturday, prompting added speculation about the ties between the quakes and oil and natural gas drilling wastewater injection processes. Although small in magnitude — measuring 2.6-4.0 on the Richter Scale — the frequency of the tremors has already surpassed 2013 totals, according to the Oklahoma Geological Survey (OGS).

Domestic merger and acquisition activity across the energy sector last year may have been off from 2012, but offerings for master limited partnerships (MLP) were a standout, as operators looked for investments to buildout onshore infrastructure, according to PwC.

Following a few years of operators tripping over themselves to expand U.S. oil and natural gas leaseholds, last year they were focused more on developing resources in hand rather than dealmaking, according to Deloitte Center for Energy Solutions.