Crude

The pace of development in the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas is fast and steady, yet “the [stock] market continues to not appreciate the statistical and predictable nature of the learning curve” in the play, said analysts at FBR Capital Markets. They noted that in other shale plays, more wells have equaled greater knowledge, which has yielded predictable productivity gains.

Natural gas has been the primary target of domestic drilling throughout the past decade, but the focus appears to be shifting to crude oil, according to a report on first quarter well completions issued by the American Petroleum Institute (API). The estimated number of oil wells drilled in the first quarter outnumbered natural gas wells by 5,718 to 3,860, API reported. The figures for oil well completions “show the focus is changing,” the producer group said. While oil and gas well activity was up from the same period in 2010, it was down from 2009, API said. It estimated that 10,431 oil and natural gas wells and dry holes were completed in the most recent first quarter, up 29% from 2010’s first quarter but almost 8% below completions in the first quarter of 2009. API also reported total estimated footage of 75.66 million feet was drilled in the first quarter, a 38% increase from the same period of 2010.

Natural gas has been the primary target of domestic drilling throughout the past decade, but the focus appears to be shifting to crude oil, according to a report on first quarter well completions issued by the American Petroleum Institute (API).

House Republicans Tuesday once again introduced legislation that would open the federal waters offshore Virginia to natural gas and crude oil exploration. The bill calls for the Interior Department to proceed with a Virginia offshore lease sale — the first lease sale conducted off the East Coast in 30 years — no later than one year after the passage of the bill.

Liquids production — both crude oil and condensate — is rising significantly at several shale plays in the United States as operators increasingly target the liquids-bearing portions of these formations, according to Austin, TX-based HPDI LLC, a supplier of data on the oil and natural gas industry.

The Eagle Ford Shale, where oil and natural gas development began in earnest less than three years ago, is making a big economic footprint in the 24-county South Texas area where it lies, according to researchers at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA).

Further punctuating the rapidness of the expansion in the Bakken Shale and Three Forks formations in North Dakota, Enbridge Energy Partners LP (EEP) began Friday to expand its takeaway capacity by 23,500 b/d in the area through reconfiguration of its system between Minot, ND, and Clearbrook, MN.

Supporters and opponents of hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) have taken turns voicing their opinions in an Ohio newspaper in Marcellus territory this month, just days after a nonprofit organization declared the state’s program regulating the practice to be well managed.

Acceleration of shale natural gas development not only has lowered the price of natural gas but will exert downward pressure on the price of crude oil, said an official with the International Energy Agency (IEA) Thursday.