Bought

A Pennsylvania driller has bought more than 56,000 acres of leasehold, hundreds of producing natural gas wells and nearly 200 miles of natural gas pipeline and other infrastructure in New York state from a subsidiary of Chesapeake Energy Corp. It said it plans to drill vertical wells on the acquisition acreage this year.

As a hedge against higher natural gas prices, a subsidiary of LSB Industries Inc., an Oklahoma-based chemical and equipment manufacturer, has bought an interest in a package of wells and potential drilling locations in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. is looking for buyers for some land in Western Oklahoma’s emerging Granite Wash and Hogshooter plays, according to Meagher Energy Advisors.

South Jersey Energy has bought the retail marketing book of Pennsylvania customers from CenterPoint Energy Services, acquiring “a strong book of business that fits well with its northeast footprint,” South Jersey said. The more than 1,000 commercial and industrial customers acquired are primarily retail natural gas sales within the utility service areas of UGI, Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania, PECO Energy and Equitable.”This sale was made possible by significant changes in Pennsylvania’s competitive landscape,” South Jersey said. “Natural gas production in the Marcellus Shale has expanded dramatically, and the state’s electricity market is fully deregulated. This market supports [parent company South Jersey’s Industries’] existing wholesale gas sales efforts in the Marcellus Shale.”

As Canadian producers line up to export liquefied natural gas (LNG), an effort has formed to answer safety questions about hydraulic fracturing (fracking), which is built into industry plans to make British Columbia (BC) shale deposits the prime supply source for LNG exports.

Data gathered from 30 large domestic natural gas producers indicate that the U.S. inventory of gas reserves has grown to about 300 Tcf, according to a new report from the American Gas Association (AGA). That estimate, based in large part on new discoveries in shale plays, shatters the previous domestic reserves record of 293 Tcf, which was recorded in 1967.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. defended itself against a story in an upcoming issue of Rolling Stone magazine that the producer is claiming contains several inaccuracies.

The majority of Tulsa-based oil and gas exploration and production company Samson Investment Co. is poised to be bought by a private equity group led by KKR & Co. for $7 billion, making it one of the largest private-equity takeovers of all time, according to press reports.

Water handling solutions provider Heckmann Corp. has bought pumping and delivery services company Consolidated Petroleum Inc. (CPI), which serves customers conducting hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the Haynesville and Eagle Ford shales. Heckmann said the acquisition boosts its ability to provide fresh water for fracking.