Drilling

Houston-based Chimera Energy Corp. announced on Tuesday that it had received drilling logs from Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), the Mexican state-owned petroleum company, and had “formulated a 90-day schedule for the first deployment” of its nonhydraulic shale oil extraction in Mexico’s Chicontepic Basin, even as concerns arose about the accuracy of many of the company’s statements.

Oil and gas drilling activity in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is returning to normal after last week’s visit by Hurricane Isaac, and workers being redeployed to offshore facilities are finding no major storm-related damage, according to the Bureau of Safety Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) said Thursday it will publish a draft version of new guidelines intended to expedite the drilling permit application process. DEP will accept public comments on its proposals until Oct. 1.

Lower commodity prices weren’t enough to slow business at National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NOV), which reported a growing backlog of capital equipment orders and increased quarterly earnings compared with 2Q2011.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said it estimates that shale formations in the United States contain 483 Tcf of unproved technically recoverable natural gas and 33.2 billion bbl of unproved technically recoverable tight oil.

A Colorado State University (CSU) team led by former Gov. Bill Ritter briefed California’s oil and natural gas officials about how Colorado’s drilling rules that encompass hydraulic fracturing stipulations were able to satisfy environmental concerns — an issue California faces as legislators consider whether to establish a fracking moratorium or not (see Shale Daily, June 28).

Pennsylvania midstream operator UGI Energy Services Inc. on Wednesday launched plans to replace the diesel now powering its Marcellus Shale drilling fleet with liquefied natural gas (LNG). UGI’s plan mirrors a pilot initiated by EQT Corp. earlier this month to convert its Marcellus diesel rigs (see Shale Daily, July 6).

Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling declined nearly 7% in the first five months of this year from the same period of 2011, in part as operators began moving from dry gas to wetter targets, according to data from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

Despite a rig count that has declined significantly, production from the Haynesville Shale during June was climbing, which was reversing the impact of well shut-ins that began in February, an analysis by Bentek Energy LLC found.