Doubled

Hours ahead of EQT Corp.’s second quarter conference call on Thursday, the company tied into sales its first Utica Shale well, the CEO said.

Two-year-old Appalachia-based upstart Eclipse Resources I LP, under the management of several shale veterans, has more than doubled its holdings in the Utica Shale in a deal to acquire Oxford Oil Co. LLC, and with it 184,000 net acres and 13.8 Bcfe of proved developed producing reserves.

Data just coming in from 2011 shows that investment in U.S. shale oil and gas drilling nearly doubled over 2010 levels, which vaulted shale plays to account for nearly one-quarter of all wells drilled in the United States, according to the American Petroleum Institute (API).

Global demand for natural gas is projected to grow at about 2% per year, about twice the rate for oil demand. And liquefied natural gas (LNG) capacity, which about doubled from 2000 to 2012 could double again by 2025, according to Ernst & Young (E&Y). But it’s still early days in the U.S. LNG export game, and opinions vary widely on what will happen.

The Bakken Shale, Hess Corp.’s “principal engine of growth.” averaged 65,000 boe/d in the first three months of this year, an increase of 55% from a year ago, the CEO told investors on Wednesday.

Global demand for natural gas is projected to grow at about 2% per year, about twice the rate for oil demand. And liquefied natural gas (LNG) capacity, which about doubled from 2000 to 2012 could double again by 2025, according to Ernst & Young (E&Y). But it’s still early days in the U.S. LNG export game, and opinions vary widely on what will happen.

Private equity (PE) investments, which more than doubled in the U.S. oil and natural gas sector from 2002 to 2012, are showing no signs of drying up, according to PwC.

Baker Hughes Inc.’s North American activity is predicted to be steady this year compared with 2012, but customers still remain cautious about what’s ahead, CEO Martin Craighead said Wednesday. Canadian projects also are posing “near-term risks,” he said.

The North Dakota legislature is considering legislation that would impact exploration and production (E&P) companies, including offering incentives to eliminate natural gas flaring at the wellhead.