Drillers

Chesapeake Energy Corp., long one of the most active natural gas drillers and producers in North America, is stealthily making a land grab to secure domestic oilfields, part of a long-range plan to rebalance a portfolio that now is 93% weighted to gas, CEO Aubrey McClendon said Thursday.

Chesapeake Energy Corp., long one of the most active natural gas drillers and producers in North America, is stealthily making a land grab to secure domestic oilfields, part of a long-range plan to rebalance a portfolio that now is 93% weighted to gas, CEO Aubrey McClendon said Thursday.

At least three contaminated water wells near Pavillion, WY, contain hydraulic fracturing (hydrofrac) chemicals used by natural gas drillers, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said in a preliminary report issued earlier this month.

At least three contaminated water wells near Pavillion, WY, contain a hydraulic fracturing (hydrofrac) chemical used by natural gas drillers, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said in a preliminary report issued earlier this month.

In the next few days, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter is expected to sign into law landmark regulations that overhaul rules for the state’s natural gas and oil drillers after the Colorado General Assembly officially approved the package on Wednesday.

If North American natural gas drillers continue to lay down rigs at a moderate pace, inventories and price supports should rebalance toward the end of 2009, Barclays Capital energy analysts said last week.

If North American natural gas drillers continue to lay down rigs at a moderate pace, inventories and price supports should rebalance toward the end of 2009, Barclays Capital energy analysts said.

As many as 1,500 residents in two to three neighborhoods were evacuated Thursday after drillers hit a pocket of natural gas that caused a well to blow out behind a fire department substation in Carlsbad, NM, city Fire Chief Michael Reynolds said.

Despite the mixed signals in the economy, U.S.-based land and offshore drilling contractors are reporting sequential gains for services and rigs over the first part of the year, especially by aggressive independents on the hunt for natural gas. And if gas prices remain high, most of the contractors expect the domestic rig count to rise both onshore and offshore through the rest of 2003.