Despite

Despite the threat of legal action from Gov. John Hickenlooper, the city council of Fort Collins, CO, has adopted a resolution banning hydraulic fracturing (fracking) within city limits.

Despite the threat of legal action from Gov. John Hickenlooper, the city council of Fort Collins, CO, has adopted a resolution banning hydraulic fracturing (fracking) within city limits.

ExxonMobil Corp.’s profits climbed 6% year/year in 4Q2012, with annual earnings jumping 9%, despite a steep fall-off in global natural gas and oil production, the supermajor reported on Friday. Chevron Corp., however, reported strong year/year (y/y) earnings and higher production.

ExxonMobil Corp.’s profits climbed 6% year/year in 4Q2012, with annual earnings jumping 9%, despite a steep fall-off in global natural gas and oil production, the supermajor reported on Friday. Until natural gas prices are revived, the producer will direct most of North American unconventional spending on liquids and oil, the investor relations chief said Friday.

ExxonMobil Corp.’s profits climbed 6% year/year in 4Q2012, with annual earnings jumping 9%, despite a steep fall-off in global natural gas and oil production, the supermajor reported on Friday.

Despite producing less wastewater per unit of natural gas produced compared with conventional wells, the enormity of the Marcellus Shale’s growth has increased total wastewater generated in the region by about 570% since 2004, “overwhelming current wastewater disposal infrastructure capacity,” according to a study by researchers at Duke and Kent State universities.

Natural gas drilling continued to decline in the fourth quarter, despite an uptick in exploratory gas drilling for the period, the American Petroleum Institute (API) said in a report on well completions for the quarter.

Natural gas drilling continued to decline in the fourth quarter, despite an uptick in exploratory drilling, the American Petroleum Institute (API) said in a report on well completions. “In the year-to-date comparison, gas well completions have decreased 26%” to 9,752 wells in 2012 from 13,128 wells in 2011. At the same time, oil well drilling rose, with exploratory and development wells showing a 15% and 16% increase respectively from 4Q2011 numbers. “The oil and natural gas industry expanded oil drilling in 2012, thanks in large part to access on private and state lands,” said API Statistics Director Hazem Arafa. A year-to-date comparison of oil wells drilled yields a 25% increase in total well completions between 2011 and 2012 (26,213 to 32,652).

North Dakota is “turning the corner” on the volumes of natural gas flared despite the relatively high percent of associated gas that is still being burned at the wellhead, state officials recently told NGI.