Consensus

Oilfield services giant Nabors Industries Ltd. on Tuesday warned that operating results for the second quarter will fall below consensus estimates because of a “pronounced” shortfall in the pressure pumping and top drive completion service lines.

A standout performance in the Permian Basin increased oil production 23% year/year in the first three months of this year, but it’s not the only racehorse in the stable, Devon Energy Corp.’s top executive said Wednesday. Encouraging results from the emerging Mississippian Lime, for example, may provide the “next leg of growth.”

Responding in part to the public outcry over hydraulic fracturing (fracking), ASTM International has created a subcommittee to develop consensus standards that would provide best practices for the fracking of oil and natural gas wells in shale formations.

Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) agree with the consensus forecast for the upcoming hurricane season, saying Thursday that conditions in the atmosphere and the ocean favor a near-normal number of tropical storms this year.

California’s five-member state regulatory commission is showing some cracks in its usual solid consensus after 10 years of being headed by a former utility senior executive. This became apparent Thursday when a proposal by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) to invest utility ratepayer funds in a solar demonstration facility was rejected on a 3-2 vote.

Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead on Wednesday asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to cooperate in a scientific review and analysis of groundwater quality in Pavillion, which federal officials assert may have been polluted by natural gas drilling and well stimulation practices.

The West Virginia state Senate unanimously approved Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s version of a Marcellus Shale regulatory reform bill on Tuesday by a 33-0 vote.

The co-chairs of a West Virginia panel trying to reach a consensus on Marcellus Shale regulatory reform testified Monday that they believe compromise legislation is within reach and could be enacted in the near future.

A bipartisan panel of West Virginia lawmakers seeking a consensus on possible Marcellus Shale regulatory reform are scheduled to meet Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning in Charleston.