Atlas

Shale deposits on land, declared off limits to industry in 2014, are rich enough to replace Atlantic Canada’s depleted offshore natural gas production network, says a fresh review by government scientists.

Atlas Resource Partners LP (ARP) emerged from bankruptcy protection with a new name, Titan Energy LLC, after the company reached a restructuring deal with nearly all of its lenders and bondholders.

Atlas Resource Partners LP (ARP) said Monday that it has reached a restructuring deal with nearly all of its lenders and bondholders that agreed to reduce its debt by $900 million in exchange for all the common equity in the new company when it emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’sOffice of Oil and Gas Management faces a $2.9 million deficit in fiscal year (FY) 2016-2017, which begins in July, according to the state budget office. It also faces a $9.8 million deficit in FY 2017-2018. The oil and gas office, which is staffed by 227 people and regulates the state’s oil and natural gas industry, is funded entirely by permit fees, which have plummeted with the decline in activity in the state related to low commodity prices. Last month, DEP Secretary John Quigley said the DEP remains severely underfunded and understaffed (see Shale Daily,March 1). The deficit means that the office can’t fill vacant positions. There were 17 rigs running in the state at the end of last week, compared to 50 at the same time last year, according to Baker Hughes Inc. Quigley told lawmakers in March during state budget hearings that the situation could lead to another increase in oil and gas permit fees, which were last increased in 2014 (see Shale Daily,June 13, 2014). The agency is not alone: the state faces a $2 billion budget deficit, and lawmakers only recently passed the rest of the FY 2015-2016 budget after a nine month impasse (see Shale Daily,March 23).

The New York Stock Exchange(NYSE) has moved forward with proceedings to delist Atlas Energy Group LLC(ATLS). NYSE also suspended trading of the company’s common units on Friday. The move comes nearly three months after NYSE first notified the company that its market capitalization and stockholder equity had fallen below the $50 million minimum over a consecutive 30-day trading period (see Shale Daily,Dec. 31, 2015). While Atlas said it is “considering what actions, if any, it may take in response to the decision,” its units started trading on the over-the-counter market OTCQX on Monday. ATLS owns all of the general partner interest, distribution rights and a 23% limited partner interest in upstream subsidiary Atlas Resource Partners LP (ARP). ARP, a separately traded company with producing wells and reserves in 17 states that include assets in the Barnett, Eagle Ford, Marcellus and Utica shales, is not affected by the ATLS delisting. ARP’s stock, which is traded on the NYSE, has performed poorly, however, with a 52-week low of 56 cents/share.

Philadelphia-based Atlas Energy Group LLC (ATLS), which owns all of the general partner interest, distribution rights and a 23% limited partner interest in its upstream subsidiary, Atlas Resource Partners LP (ARP), has fallen below the New York Stock Exchange’s (NYSE) continued listing standards.

As the oil and natural gas industry sheds workers in the headwinds of low commodities prices, the CEO of Targa Resources Partners LP (NGLS) said his company could be on the verge of doing the opposite once it completes its acquisition of two midstream units of Atlas Energy LP later this month.

Atlas Pipeline Partners LP and Pioneer Natural Resources have expanded an existing gas processing agreement that will lead to the construction of 200 MMcf/d of additional cryogenic capacity to serve production from the Permian Basin in West Texas.

Driven by steadily increasing midstream business, Atlas Pipeline Partners LLP’s (APL) natural gas volumes from onshore U.S. plays jumped by double digits in the first three months of this year from a year ago to average 1.03 Bcf/d, the operator said last week.