Competing

Despite fierce competition, Gulfport Energy Corp. CEO Jim Palm said his company has managed to acquire additional acreage in the Utica Shale as it looks to determine type curves, well spacing and how long it should wait before bringing new wells into production.

The Pennsylvania State Senate unanimously passed a bill last Monday absolving mine operators and landowners from liability for any injury or damage caused by the use of acid mine drainage (AMD) in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations.

While there are competing proposals to break through the bottlenecks to bringing rich gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) in the Bakken formation to market, the Alliance Pipeline and Aux Sable NGL systems think they have the inside track. In the meantime, a substantial amount of NGL movement continues through rail and trucking.

A regional approach to siting drilling infrastructure in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale is needed to help minimize development in core forest and productive agricultural lands and to decrease potential risk to waterways, according to researchers at Pennsylvania State University. A study conducted by the university’s College of Agricultural Sciences found that shale gas development is causing rapid landscape change. “The development of new roads to support drilling could affect forest ecosystem integrity via increased fragmentation,” said Patrick Drohan, assistant professor of pedology. Drohan estimated that slightly more than half of the well pads in Pennsylvania are on agricultural land and most of the rest are on forestland. The study found that drilling is competing with food production for space on the landscape.

While state senators in Pennsylvania continue to wrangle over an impact fee on natural gas drillers, the state House is moving quickly on a competing bill.

While state Senators in Pennsylvania continue to wrangle over a drilling impact fee, a state House committee passed a competing bill along party lines Wednesday.

Williams, which saw its bid to merge with Southern Union Co. over a competing offer by Energy Transfer Equity LP (ETE) rebuffed again and again this past summer, apparently expressed an interest in acquiring some of Southern Union’s assets over the past two months, according to a regulatory filing.

With Marcellus Shale production growing exponentially, midstream players in the region are handling that additional supply in different ways, company officials told a Pittsburgh-area audience last week.

An attempt by Williams late last month to snatch Southern Union Co. has forced Energy Transfer Equity LP (ETE) to strike back with a sweetened offer of $40/share.