Cost

With an eye for the developing shale potential in Kansas, Irvine, CA-based startup New Western Energy Corp. said Wednesday it has obtained a 90% working interest in the 550-acre Smith Oil & Gas Lease in Chautauqua County, KS. The interest is in acreage that sits adjacent to 1,700 acres that New Western holds in the B&W Oil & Gas Lease.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. has been downgraded again by Fitch Ratings, and on Monday two proxy services recommended against reelecting two directors at the annual meeting in June.

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.

Singling out natural gas as an economic engine for the nation, President Obama Friday signed an executive order establishing a high-level, interagency task force to support and oversee the development of unconventional natural gas resources and associated infrastructure.

Continuing as one of the leading producers in the Marcellus Shale play, Fort Worth, TX-based Range Resources Corp. on Thursday reported increased production of natural gas, liquids and crude oil, while prices were down and initial results were in on Pennsylvania’s newly imposed natural gas impact fee. The fee’s initial charge put overall production taxes at about $13.6 million, or 23 cents/Mcfe, for the first quarter, Range said.

Will ethane production from shale plays in Appalachia support all of the ethane projects proposed for the region?

Even though northern shale drilling remains in its infancy, the British Columbia cradle of the emerging natural gas source is catching up fast to the traditional mainstay of Canadian supplies.

The cost of crude oil and gasoline may be soaring, but natural gas prices continue to lag, with Henry Hub spot prices forecast to average $3.17/MMBtu this year, an 83-cent decline from last year’s average spot price, according to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Short-Term Energy Outlook for March. The 2012 price forecast is 11 cents lower than last month’s outlook (see NGI, Feb. 13).

The cost of crude oil and gasoline may be soaring, but natural gas prices continue to lag, with Henry Hub spot prices forecast to average $3.17/MMBtu this year, an 83-cent decline from last year’s average spot price, according to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Short-Term Energy Outlook for March. The 2012 price forecast is 11 cents lower than last month’s outlook (see Daily GPI, Feb. 8).