Drop

The Sierra Club on Monday filed in federal court to drop both its appeal of the Nexus Gas Transmission project and an emergency motion to stop construction, saying it no longer has the support of affected landowners.

Driven by a sharp drop in natural gas drilling, five U.S. rigs packed up for the week ended Friday (Aug. 11), according to data released Friday by Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI).

February natural gas is expected to open unchanged Wednesday morning at $3.28 as weather models show wide variations in outlooks. Overnight oil markets fell.

Cone Midstream Partners LP said Wednesday it has agreed to acquire the remaining interest in more than 125 miles of pipelines and 650 MMcf/d of natural gas compression capacity from sponsors Consol Energy Inc. and Noble Energy Inc. in a deal valued at $248 million.

PDC Energy Inc. plans to drop a rig this month, but it has increased its full-year production guidance after better than expected second quarter results.

North Dakota’s latest oil/natural gas production statistics include the “good, bad and ugly,” but the state’s chief oil/gas regulator, Lynn Helms, stressed the latter in pointing to a 70,400 b/d oil production drop month-to-month as the biggest decline the state has experienced.

The United States could produce 5 million b/d from shale oil deposits by 2017 and may become the world’s largest oil producer — reaching up to 16 million b/d in just a few years by combining shale with conventional oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and biofuels, according to a researcher at Harvard Kennedy School.

After disconcerting Utica Shale production figures were released earlier this month by Ohio regulators, industry analysts said they were disappointed with the results of the first two test wells Halcon Resources Corp. drilled in the play, and EV Energy Partners (EVEP) said it is continuing to look for buyers interested in its holdings there.

North American natural gas giant Encana Corp. saw its gas production drop 12% from a year ago, as it turned off the spigot in its wide ranging gas-rich plays. Liquids output, however, is roaring and expected to double by the end of the year.