Drilling

Well control experts succeeded in plugging Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s runaway oil well that had been spewing natural gas and drilling mud since last Tuesday near the town of Douglas, WY, in part of the Niobrara Shale formation in Converse County. Crews managed to reduce the pressure and regain control by plugging the well with mud.

Low natural gas prices have stifled activity in the dry window of the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas, but the play’s natural gas liquids (NGL) and crude windows “are hotbeds of activity,” according to veteran industry observer Rusty Braziel, now principal of RBN Energy.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar signaled Tuesday that the department is close to completing final regulations for hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in drilling operations on public lands.

Russia’s OAO Rosneft will put its boots and drilling crews on the ground in the United States and Canada through several partnership agreements completed with ExxonMobil Corp. on Monday.

Pennsylvania House Speaker Sam Smith (R-Punxsutawney) accused opponents of shale gas drilling of spreading misinformation about Act 13, calling their claims that the law’s language on chemical disclosure would prevent doctors from treating their patients “outrageous.”

Oneok Partners LP said Wednesday it plans to invest $140-160 million to build a 270-mile natural gas gathering system and related infrastructure in Divide County, ND, in the heart of the Bakken Shale.

As operators search for water treatment options in shale plays, they are hearing some crazy pitches, according to Rick McCurdy, senior engineering adviser for Chesapeake Energy Corp.

The Maryland House of Delegates passed a 7.5% state severance tax on natural gas production on Monday, which if adopted would become the highest severance tax rate for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale.

Bowing to local Native American concerns, Denver-based Anschutz Exploration Corp. halted its environmental assessment of possible oil/gas drilling in the Red Blanket Butte area northwest of Browning, MT, in the face of possibly disturbing cultural resources associated with the Blackfeet Tribe.