Completion

A bet to procure a big reserve of guar gum, an additive used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) fluid, proved to be a costly mistake in the second quarter, Halliburton Co. CEO Dave Lesar told energy analysts on Monday.

Unit Petroleum Co., a subsidiary of Unit Corp., has agreed to pay $617 million to Noble Energy Inc. for oil and natural gas properties in western Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle. The deal doubles Unit’s acreage in its Granite Wash core area.

A horizontal well targeting the Cotton Valley formation in northern Louisiana recently flowed at an initial production rate of 3,019 boe/d over a 24-hour period, according to privately held producer Indigo Minerals LLC.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has begun building the Brasada Gas Plant in La Salle County, TX, which is expected to come online in 2Q2013 with initial capacity to process up to 200 MMcf/d of liquids-rich natural gas from the Maverick Basin, where the company operates on about 400,000 gross acres.

MarkWest Energy Partners LP has launched midstream expansions for gathering facilities in two areas of West Virginia and in southwestern Pennsylvania to support growing natural gas production for affiliates of Chesapeake Energy Corp. and Antero Resources Corp.

TransCanada Corp. has submitted a presidential permit application to the U.S. Department of State (DOS) for the Keystone XL Pipeline from the U.S.-Canada border in Montana to Steele City, NE. The company said it will supplement that application with an alternative route in Nebraska as soon as that route is selected.

Although keeping a lid on the details of the deal for now, Rex Energy Corp. said the Utica Shale joint venture it recently entered into with MFC Drilling Inc. and Abarta Oil & Gas Co. Inc. requires it to drill and complete one well and begin drilling two others by Nov. 15, and requires three additional wells each year until the company satisfies the carry obligation. The JV covers a three county region of eastern Ohio.

Seneca Resources Corp., the exploration and production (E&P) arm of National Fuel Gas Co., has curtailed some Marcellus Shale production, is delaying some well completion activities there and possibly may not participate in some joint venture wells with partner EOG Resources Inc. because of low natural gas prices, the company said Monday.

The global market for hydraulic fracturing (fracking) services continues to grow at a double-digit pace but not nearly as much as in 2011 since natural gas prices have begun to discourage exploration, according to a survey by Spears & Associates Inc.