Busy

In the midst of continued oil/natural gas production growth, albeit at a slower pace, North Dakota’s drilling activity has slowed significantly and the amount of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) even more so, according to the state’s top oil/gas official. Activity is projected to increase again next year, however, with continuing technology advances.

The re-emerging Mississippian Lime may be cheaper to drill than in some deeper formations, but an abundance of produced water has created a flood of innovative solutions by some operators.

The closing weeks of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season, which officially runs until Nov. 30, will see what has been a busy tropical season winding down quickly, according to Weather Services International (WSI), which increased its forecast to 17 named storms, including nine hurricanes, two of them major (Category 3 or higher).

Officials from North Dakota’s Health and Mineral Resources Departments were busy over the weekend as part of the clean up following a fatal oil well blowout that occurred last Tuesday night, spewing about 400 barrels of crude over surrounding agricultural fields. A health department environmental scientist was assessing the risks of contamination to crops and local water supplies, and the Department of Mineral and Resources coordinated the cordoning off and management of the site itself. New Mexico-based Black Hawk Energy Services was in the process of putting production pumping equipment into place at the partially completed well. One worker was killed when he was run over by a truck being relocated away from the well site. The Williams County Sheriff’s Office told local news media in Williston that the incident is still under investigation. Two parts of the well’s pre-production work had been done, but it was not ready to begin commercial production, state officials told local news media.

Wrapping up a busy Tuesday of transactions with an overarching theme of cooperation on different continents, an ExxonMobil Corp. subsidiary has entered a farm-out agreement with a subsidiary of Canada-based Americas Petrogas for the exploration and potential exploitation of shale in Americas Petrogas’s Los Toldos blocks (163,500 gross acres) located in Neuquen, Argentina.

Late summer promises to be a busy time for federal regulatory proceedings related to the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) natural gas pipeline rupture last September in San Bruno, CA, according to a California-based staff member for Rep. Jackie Speier (D-San Mateo). For beleaguered PG&E, June has already presented a series of challenges, including criminal investigations, multi-million-dollar state fines and the hardening of a bunker mentality within the utility.

Late summer promises to be a busy time for major federal regulatory proceedings related to the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) natural gas pipeline rupture last September in San Bruno, CA, according to a California-based staff member for Rep. Jackie Speier (D-San Mateo).

Natural gas transmission companies have been keeping FERC busy with project paperwork as the industry segment tries to adjust to a marketplace being altered by shale gas.

Natural gas transmission companies have been keeping FERC busy with project paperwork, as the industry segment tries to adjust to a marketplace being altered by shale gas.