Bone

Mexco Energy Corp. and Concho Resources Inc. have struck an agreement to develop the Bone Spring formation with horizontal drilling and multistage hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

Physical natural gas prices rose on average 7 cents in Wednesday’s trading. Eastern points exhibited strength as the bone-chilling cold and snow that raked the Plains headed east; relatively few points experienced losses. Midwest locations were mostly steady. At the close of futures trading April had eased 2.2 cents to $3.434 and May was 2.3 cents lower at $3.481. April crude oil rose 13 cents to end the day at $92.76/bbl.

Cash prices overall lurched higher Wednesday as weather forecasts continued to call for bone-chilling winds across major Midwest and eastern market centers. Without the multi-dollar gains posted at a handful of Northeast points, the average national gain was 8 cents, but with those gains factored in, the average rose to 21 cents.

Debt-tarnished Quicksilver Resources Inc. said Thursday it is still in talks to sell a nonoperated minority working interest in its Barnett Shale assets and is negotiating a potential joint venture (JV) in the Horn River Basin in northeast British Columbia. Investors have been awaiting deals on both fronts for some time.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. said Tuesday four core U.S. onshore operating plays — the Wattenberg Field in Colorado, the Greater Natural Buttes in Utah, and the Marcellus and Eagle Ford shales — eclipsed production records in November, with each one exceeding a gross processed production milestone of 100,000 boe/d.

DCP Midstream LLC plans to build a 75 MMcf/d gas processing plant in Glasscock County, TX, and an associated low-pressure gathering system to service producers focused on the Wolfberry play in the Permian Basin of West Texas.

The Bakken Shale and underlying Three Forks formation in North Dakota are the latest targets for independent exploration and production company Breitling Oil and Gas Corp., which in 2011 reported progress in oil and gas projects in its focus areas in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana.

EOG Resources Inc. has taken its Marcellus Shale leasehold off the market because it’s a “core holding” and big plans are on the table to develop it once natural gas prices recover, CEO Mark Papa said Tuesday.

With North America girding once more to do battle with bone-chilling temperatures and plenty of icy precipitation, higher prices came as a surprise for no one Friday. Multi-dollar leaps reigned again in the Northeast, while the rest of the market saw gains ranging from about a nickel to nearly 30 cents. The smallest increases were concentrated in the Midcontinent and Rockies areas.