Consent

Almost half of the drilling in the U.S. onshore now is being done on multi-well pads, further moving attention from the rig and well count and more to horizontal footage drilled and the number of fractured stages per well, Halliburton Co. CEO Dave Lesar said last week.

Bolstered by record production, especially in the southwest Pennsylvania portion of the Marcellus Shale, and revisions to its estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) curves, Range Resources Corp. reported net earnings of nearly $144 million for the second quarter of 2013.

The capacity of underground natural gas storage facilities increased by about 2% from November 2011 to November 2012, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a new report. The increase was seen in both demonstrated maximum and design capacities.

Kathryn Klaber, who has helmed the industry-led Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) as CEO for almost four years, is stepping down. She was selected to lead the newly formed organization in late 2009 and is expected to help in the transition over the next few months. “Pennsylvania is now producing nearly 10% of the nation’s natural gas,” Klaber said. “Our industry’s work has been described as ‘revolutionary’ and ‘game-changing.’ The work of the MSC, collaborating with public officials, has helped create the climate for growth of an industry that has delivered on its promises to create American jobs, increase our energy security, while holding safety and environmental performance as paramount.” The oil and gas industry over the past few years “has faced and collectively overcome a host of challenges,” said MSC Chair Dave Spigelmyer, who is Chesapeake Energy Corp. vice president of government affairs. “Katie’s results-oriented leadership and proven ability to identify and collaboratively tackle these challenges has brought incredible value to our industry.”

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court last Thursday quashed an appeal by the state Public Utility Commission (PUC), leaving in place an earlier court order that the commission cannot use a review process to enforce some provisions of Act 13, the state’s omnibus Marcellus Shale law.

Oneok Inc. plans to spin off its natural gas distribution business to create ONE Gas Inc., which would be one of the largest gas utilities in the United States with more than two million customers in three states and the only publicly traded, 100% regulated, pure-play gas distribution utility.

Nabors Industries Inc., the largest onshore drilling fleet operator and the biggest supplier of pressure pumping equipment, is not optimistic about seeing gains in the U.S. oil or gas patch through the rest of this year, CEO Tony Petrello said Wednesday.

The opening of the Mariner West I ethane pipeline and new processing plants should provide some relief to current wet gas constraints in the Marcellus and Utica shales, and the plays should be largely de-bottlenecked by the end of next year, according to analysts at Barclays.

Most of the United States — and particularly parts of Texas and the Northeast — can expect above-normal temperatures through October, but the Southeast may see some relief from the worst of summer heat, according to forecasters at Weather Services International (WSI). The forecaster also trimmed the number of tropical storms it expects to form in the Atlantic Basin this year.