Austin

Four wells drilled and completed (D&C) in a newly acquired area in the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas averaged a combined 6,000 boe/d over 60 days, 84% weighted to oil, EV Energy Partners LP (EVEP) said.

Encana Corp. is poised to return to growth by the middle of this year, management said Tuesday, emphasizing that the company is positioned to increase production from its core assets by 20% between 4Q2016 and 4Q2017.

U.S. onshore operators Lucas Energy Inc. and Victory Energy Corp. have canceled their merger plans, and the two sides are working toward finalizing terms for a mutual settlement and release agreement.

U.S. onshore operators Lucas Energy Inc. and Victory Energy Corp. have canceled their merger plans, and the two sides are working toward finalizing terms for a mutual settlement and release agreement.

The Texas Senate unanimously confirmed the appointment of Toby Baker of Austin to serve as a commissioner of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Baker has been serving in that capacity since his appointment by Gov. Rick Perry on April 16. His term will expire on Aug. 31, 2017. Baker also serves as the governor’s designee to the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, the Coastal Land Advisory Board, and the state’s representative to the Gulf of Mexico Alliance.

The University of Texas at Austin (UT) has pulled a 2012 report that was supportive of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and shale gas development following a review of the study by an independent panel that found researchers failed to disclose a conflict of interest.

Houston-based Sanchez Energy Corp., which has a 95,000-net acre position targeting the liquids-rich Eagle Ford Shale, Pearsall Shale, Austin Chalk and Buda Limestone, said its estimated current net production is 4,400 boe/d, of which 84% was oil. This rate represents a 159% increase over the third quarter net production exit rate of 1,700 boe/d (see Shale Daily, Oct. 30). “We continue to see strong well performance across our three focus areas as we execute on the remainder of this year’s development plan,” said CEO Tony Sanchez. “Additionally, we are testing tighter spacing in each of our positions in the Eagle Ford trend and, more specifically, one of the rigs in our Palmetto area is drilling the first of a five-well, 40-acre spacing pilot on the southern part of the Barnhart Ranch.” The company is running two rigs in the Palmetto area, one rig in the Maverick area, and two rigs in the Marquis area.

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from shale gas well hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations are significantly lower than previously estimated, according to a study by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Houston-based Oil and Gas Solutions LLC (OGS) has been awarded an engineering contract by Austin, TX-based Omni Water Solutions Inc. to design Omni’s new HIPPO mobile water treatment system, which would be used to treat and recycle high volumes of water used in hydraulic fracturing. OGS said the system would be a modularized unit that would fit onto a conventional low-boy trailer for easy transport.