Before

The U.S. Geologic Survey’s (USGS) assessment of the Williston Basin’s Bakken Shale and Three Forks formation in North Dakota, Montana and South Dakota, which combined was estimated at 7.4 billion bbl of technically recoverable oil, is “very conservative,” according to North Dakota’s chief oil and gas regulator.

Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing has powered the biggest increase since the 1970s in Alberta oil production from flowing wells outside the northern bitumen sands belt, says the provincial Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB).

With only one day to go before the Colorado General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn, the energy industry and Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, have quashed nearly all proposed legislation to revise state oil and gas regulations.

With only one day to go before the Colorado General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn, the energy industry and Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, have quashed nearly all proposed legislation to revise state oil and gas regulations.

There appears to be no scarcity of global shale gas opportunities, but it may be two years — or longer — before drilling progresses to commercial success, according to Raymond James & Associates Inc.

In the wake of a New York appellate court ruling that two local bans on oil and gas activities should be upheld, supporters of shale development in the Empire State worry that the damage may be done, regardless of how the bans fare through a possible appeal.

Natural gas drilling activity continued its downward slide during the first quarter, while oil well completions rose during the period, according to the American Petroleum Institute’s (API) quarterly well completion report issued this week.

While water use for hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in drought-stricken Texas is considered modest when compared to other uses, such as for agriculture, where the water is drawn from is a significant consideration, according to an analysis by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).

A long list of legislation that targeted the natural gas industry in West Virginia failed to receive enough support from lawmakers before they adjourned last Saturday. However, the House of Delegates enacted a series of resolutions, perhaps offering a glimpse of things to come.