Better

Brazil’s Petroleo Brasilerio SA, better known as Petrobras, has ramped up production from a well connected to the first floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel platform in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM).

In response to continued low natural gas prices and “as an effort to help bring U.S. natural gas supply and demand into better balance,” Chesapeake Energy Corp. said late Tuesday it has now upped its curtailments to about 1 Bcf/d of gross operated gas output, or about 1.5% of U.S. Lower 48 gas production, primarily in the Haynesville and Barnett shale plays.

While 10% of its 2012 capital program will be spent to maintain dry natural gas activities — in anticipation of better days — EOG Resources Inc.’s focus is on oil and liquids, as it has been for about the last four years, CEO Mark G. Papa told financial analysts Friday during an earnings conference call when he waxed ecstatic about the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Monday approved DCP Midstream LP’s request to build an 11-mile pipeline to transport gas from the Niobrara Shale in the Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin to interstate natural gas markets served by the Colorado Interstate Gas (CIG) pipeline. The proposed $12 million pipeline facilities (LaSalle Residue Line) would connect to the proposed LaSalle processing plant in Weld County, CO. The only shipper on the proposed line would be DCP. DCP Midstream is a joint venture of Spectra Energy and ConocoPhillips. Based on new production in the Niobrara Shale in the DJ Basin, DCP told FERC it plans to construct the 110 MMcf/d LaSalle gas processing plant and a new gathering pipeline in Weld County (see Shale Daily, May 16, 2011).

Magnum Hunter Resources Corp. is raising its production guidance for this year and next year based upon better-than-expected well results, according to the Houston-based company. Magnum Hunter is currently producing 12,500 boe/d, compared to its 10,000 boe/d guidance for the year. The company expects to close out 2012 producing 14,500 boe/d, up from its previous projection of 13,000 boe/d. Magnum Hunter operates in the Marcellus, Eagle Ford and Bakken shales. “We are very fortunate to have three resource plays within our portfolio that are now ‘hitting on all cylinders’ and providing an increase in our overall production levels well above expectations,” said CEO Gary C. Evans. “This is especially rewarding when our management team has been able to achieve these milestones while also staying within our original capital budget plan.”

Calgary independent Paramount Resources Ltd., better known for its natural gas exploration, saw its stock price jump by nearly 5% in midday trading Monday after the company said it was creating a subsidiary to house its growing oilsands and bitumen businesses.

Better known just a few years ago as a deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM) force, Noble Energy Inc. has made some strategic moves in the past few years that have transformed the company and prepared it for double-digit production growth for up to a decade, CEO Chuck Davidson told investors last week.

Better known just a few years ago as a deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM) force, Noble Energy Inc. has made some strategic moves in the past few years that have transformed the company and prepared it for double-digit production growth for up to a decade, CEO Chuck Davidson told investors Tuesday.

Everyone involved in shale gas development needs to do a better job, the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB) subcommittee on shale gas production said in its final report.