Down

The deal that Chesapeake Energy Corp. made on Monday to sell half its leasehold in the Mississippian Lime was calculated at around $2,500/acre gross, or less than $1,000/acre net, not necessarily the price that the market had been expecting. The lower expected price may be attributed to several things, said analysts: foreign firms getting more savvy about undeveloped leaseholds, the value of the formation, or Chesapeake’s hurry to fix its balance sheet.

Apache Corp. is taking no prisoners in the Permian Basin nor in the Midcontinent after building output from the combined regions by almost 24% in 2012 from 2011. The Permian and Central operations in 4Q2012 by themselves represented 25% of Apache’s total global production at 197,000 boe/d.

A proposal to cut down on flared associated natural gas supplies in the Bakken was rejected by the North Dakota Senate Wednesday on a 34-13 vote. The measure (SB 2315) by Sen. Tim Mathern would have eliminated any hardship exemptions to the state’s ban after a year. Viewed as one of the toughest proposals to combat flaring yet, SB 2315 was strongly opposed by the industry, led by the North Dakota Petroleum Council (see Shale Daily, Feb. 12). State officials increasingly have worried about flaring, which has stayed above 30%, but below a September 2011 record of 36%. Senators opposing the measure urged patience in letting the industry address the problem. Even with the ability to flare gas for a year without paying taxes or royalties, and beyond that to seek hardship status for extending the practice, some operators are trying to find uses for the gas, including using it to produce electricity to run hydraulic fracturing equipment, and to produce fertilizer (see Shale Daily, Dec. 26, 2012).

Marathon Oil Corp. CEO Charles Cazalot will be required to step down in three years when he turns age 65, but the company has a succession planning process in place, Cazalot said during an earnings conference call. Last December COO David Roberts left the company with less than a week’s notice “to pursue other interests.” Cazalot said Marathon has a “very strong team and the company is in very good hands, and succession planning for the leadership team is a critical priority.” Roberts had been viewed by some as a successor to Cazalot.

An administrative law judge (ALJ) has turned down a request from two environmental groups to block Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co’s plans for an expansion of a natural gas pipeline in Pennsylvania, saying the groups “failed to show that they were likely to succeed on the merits or that they would suffer irreparable harm.”

Continental Resources Inc. announced Wednesday that its proved reserves have nearly doubled, driven primarily by strong production growth in North Dakota and Montana’s portions of the Bakken Shale, and part from a legacy play in south-central Oklahoma.

Colorado’s oil production last year passed the 40 million bbl mark for the first time in 50 years, while natural gas and coalbed methane (CBM) production were down in the face of stubbornly low prices, according to preliminary data from the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC).

Louisiana’s economic output will grow by $30 billion between 2011 and 2019 as a result of natural gas-induced investment, according to a report by Louisiana State University’s Center for Energy Studies that details the impact of the natural gas boom on the state.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who oversaw a moratorium on offshore drilling after the BP plc oil spill and the restructuring of the agency, will step down in March, the agency announced last week.