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MarkWest Energy Partners is getting ready for “explosive growth” in the Northeast “in 2013 and beyond,” CEO Frank Semple said Thursday. Next year, natural gas liquids (NGL) processing in the Marcellus and Utica shales combined should increase to 4.8 Bcf/d from 2.7 Bcf/d to serve producer customers.

During the third quarter Irving, TX-based Pioneer Natural Resources Co. set a new production record in the Eagle Ford Shale, where it said its choke management program continues to improve well performance. Continued development of the Wolfcamp Shale in West Texas is setting the play up to be a “significant” contributor to production growth in the future, the company said.

Calgary’s Gibson Energy Inc. is beefing up its U.S. onshore services with a US$445 million agreement to buy privately held Omni Energy Services Corp., based in Louisiana.

A nonpartisan policy research group in Pennsylvania asserts that the state could have collected almost twice the revenue it has received in impact fees on Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling if it had implemented a severance tax instead.

Houston-based Vanguard Natural Resources LLC has closed on its acquisition of natural gas and liquids assets in the Arkoma Basin from Antero Resources for an adjusted price of $434.4 million, subject to post-closing adjustments. The effective date is April 1, 2012. The deal was announced early last month (see Shale Daily, June 5). Vanguard funded the acquisition with borrowings under its existing reserve-based credit facility. The borrowing base was increased from $670 million to $975 million in connection with an interim borrowing base redetermination to include the properties from the acquisition. Updated 2012 production and financial results guidance will be included with second quarter results, which are expected to be released on Aug. 2.

There are billions of dollars worth of assets on the market and “plenty of money” available to Dallas-based Exco Resources Inc. as it pursues several potential acquisitions in the gas market, Exco Resources Inc. CEO Doug Miller said during a conference call with analysts Wednesday.

When Gov. Tom Corbett approved Act 13 last month, he gave county officials across the state 60 days to impose an annual fee on unconventional gas wells, or to opt-out. With five weeks until the April 14 deadline, almost all of the eligible counties are on the road toward imposing the fee, but the biggest potential hold-out also happens to be the most active county in the Marcellus Shale (see Shale Daily, Feb. 15).

Dallas-based Pioneer Natural Resources Co. reported a 9% sequential increase in production for the fourth quarter and attributed the success to “three core liquids-rich growth assets in Texas.” In light of low prices for dry gas, the company has tweaked some of its drilling plans while it continues to high-grade liquids-rich drilling.

EXCO Resources Inc. saw record net production volumes during 3Q2011, helped in large part by strong results in the Haynesville/Bossier shale play in Louisiana and Texas and growing momentum in the Marcellus Shale, where it is seeking additional acreage.