Come

While both oil and gas production rates in the Bakken Shale set records in February, there’s much more to come. With a large increase in multi-well pad operations, North Dakota’s chief oil and natural gas regulator expects to see “a big surge in production” in the Bakken Shale starting in June.

SandRidge Energy Inc. was able to come to terms with a hedge fund that sought to revamp the company’s leadership, but some shareholders apparently think the changes don’t go far enough.

A diverse coalition of often opposing forces Wednesday launched a center to provide producers with certification of performance standards for shale development and established the first 15 standards designed to ensure safe and environmentally responsible development of the Appalachian Basin’s shale gas resources.

While it let go of acreage in the Arkoma and Piceance basins last year, production from Antero Resources’ booming Marcellus Shale activities more than made up for their absence in the company’s portfolio of producing assets.

Cash gas prices overall on average gained 6 cents Monday, but if the monster gains on Iroquois and Tennessee in the Northeast are factored out, the gains come in at a mere penny. The Midwest, Great Lakes were strong, while eastern points were little changed. Strong eastern power prices helped lend a solid undertone to New York and New England gains.

Opposition to hydraulic fracturing flared up in Ohio this week as about 100 protestors stormed an office and a water handling facility in one Ohio town, while an oil and gas service company threatened to take its business elsewhere if another town set itself up in opposition to drilling.

Everyone knows “Texas tea” means oil, but in the Lone Star state, ethylene produced from booming supplies of natural gas liquids (NGL) might come to be known as “Texas sweetened tea” for the profitability it’s bringing to the Gulf Coast petrochemical industry.

A petition by Southern Natural Gas (SNG) pipeline to amend a stipulation and agreement requiring it to file a new rate case by the end of February has come under attack at FERC.

Natural gas shale plays have become “relatively well delineated,” which is sending production costs south in many onshore basins, a trend that should continue as adequate infrastructure opens the door to more opportunities, according to Credit Suisse’s energy team.