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Almost half of the drilling in the U.S. onshore now is being done on multi-well pads, further moving attention from the rig and well count and more to horizontal footage drilled and the number of fractured stages per well, Halliburton Co. CEO Dave Lesar said last week.

Almost half of the drilling in the U.S. onshore now is being done on multi-well pads, further moving attention from the rig and well count and more to horizontal footage drilled and the number of fractured stages per well, Halliburton Co. CEO Dave Lesar said Monday.

States are being shortchanged hundreds of millions of dollars by low-ball royalties for oil and natural gas development on federal lands, a report released Thursday by a Denver-based nonpartisan think tank says, based on an analysis of seven states.

States are being shortchanged hundreds of millions of dollars by low-ball royalties for oil and natural gas development on federal lands, a report released Thursday by a Denver-based nonpartisan think tank says, based on an analysis of five western states, plus North Dakota and Texas.

Natural Resource Partners LP (NRP) is buying nonoperated working interests in Bakken/Three Forks producing oil and gas properties from Abraxas Petroleum Corp. for $35.3 million in cash, marking its entry into the Bakken Shale.

Western Gas Partners LP has exercised an option to acquire a 25% interest in a joint venture with Enterprise Products Partners LP to own two fractionation trains (Trains 7 and 8) being constructed in Mont Belvieu, TX. The trains, scheduled to begin service later this year, would be operated by Enterprise. Western, formed by Anadarko Petroleum Corp., also plans to begin constructing a second cryogenic processing train at its Lancaster plant in the Denver-Julesburg Basin this year. Lancaster II is expected to have a capacity of 300 MMcf/d with throughput of 200 MMcf/d guaranteed by an Anadarko subsidiary. The partnership anticipates the project will cost $165 million, with 50% spent in 2013 and the remainder spent by early 2015. The new train is expected to begin operating in early 2015.

An affiliate of Chesapeake Energy Corp. is being sued by the U.S. government for failing to pay taxes in 2001 through 2003. Chesapeake Appalachia LLC is the successor company of Triana Energy Inc., which Chesapeake purchased in 2005 as part of a transaction with Columbia Natural Resources LLC. The deal gave Chesapeake entry into the relatively unexplored Marcellus Shale, with acreage in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, New York and Kentucky. According to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, the United States assessed taxes against Triana in 2001 through 2003 for a total of $431,988, which as of May 17 it “has failed, neglected or refused to pay” (U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia at Charleston, No. 2:13-cv-11988). Federal officials are seeking the tax assessment and statutory additions accrued.

Although investors were disappointed by the Utica Shale production figures released last week by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), a surge in production should be at hand in the play as infrastructure comes online, according to an analysis from RBN Energy LLC.

Persistent drought in recent years is said to have played a role, but exploration and production (E&P) activity is being cited as another reason water prices in Northern Colorado have skyrocketed in the past three years. However, state water officials caution that the numbers can be overstated.