Eagle

Texas-based Frac Tech Services LLC, a hydraulic fracturing (fracking) specialist, apparently is in talks to sell a stake in the company to one of three foreign oil giants for $2 billion-plus and also is close to completing joint ventures (JV) to work overseas on unconventional oil and gas prospects, sources told NGI’s Shale Daily on Thursday.

Heckmann Corp. has begun transporting fresh water to hydraulic fracturing (fracking) customers in the Haynesville Shale through a partially completed pipeline. When the system is completed, it will be the largest fresh water pipeline in the Haynesville area, the company said.

In the world of shale gas plays, the Haynesville is rather long in the tooth compared to the Eagle Ford, Marcellus and others. However, wells in the play are running “faster” for longer, enough so that production has continued to climb while the rig count has dropped. Analysts at Goldman Sachs said they’ve figured out how the Haynesville does it.

In the world of shale gas plays, the Haynesville is rather long in the tooth compared to the Eagle Ford, Marcellus and others. However, wells in the play are running “faster” for longer, enough so that production has continued to climb while the rig count has dropped. Analysts at Goldman Sachs said they’ve figured out how the Haynesville does it.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has approved the proposal of Norway’s Statoil ASA, which already has significant holdings in the Marcellus and Eagle Ford shales, to acquire Austin, TX-based independent Brigham Exploration Co., which would give it access to the Williston Basin’s Bakken and Three Forks oily formations. The transaction has cleared the Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period with the FTC imposing no restrictions. The transaction is valued at $4.4 billion (US$36.50/share) and is expected to close either later this year or early in 2012, Brigham said. The transaction would give Statoil access to more than 375,000 net acres in the Williston Basin, which holds potential for oil and gas production from the Bakken and Three Forks formations. Brigham also holds interests in 40,000 net acres in other onshore plays. In addition to the production assets, the transaction also provides Statoil with about 430 miles of oil, natural gas and water transportation systems in the Williston Basin, which not only secures wastewater offtake but reduces the environmental footprint in production operations.

Mexico’s energy secretary said Tuesday that the nation’s natural gas reserves could be multiplied as much as six fold after the discovery of large shale gas deposits in the country’s north and east, and could enable the country to stop importing natural gas.

Emergency responders were wrapping up their work Thursday afternoon at the site of a reported explosion at a drilling rig in the Eagle Ford Shale in Falls City in Karnes County, TX. According to press reports, two people had been hospitalized. The explosion reportedly occurred just before noon. The Karnes County sheriff was not available for comment, but a deputy said at 2:30 CDT that crews were preparing to leave the scene. The rig was reported to be targeting oil; the name of its owner/operator was not available at press time. Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Jason Reyes told the San Antonio Express-News that a truck driver who was transferring oil was injured when a truck was set on fire and ignited the explosion. The driver received second- and third-degree burns, he said. In a separate incident Monday night an explosion and fire occurred at a Continental Resources natural gas well in Oklahoma; there were no injuries (see Daily GPI, Sept. 21).

The Utica Shale could double or triple liquids production in the Appalachian Basin, increasing the infrastructure challenges in the region, a midstream player told an audience in Pittsburgh on Wednesday.

Beginning Wednesday (Aug. 3) there will be a “HAWK” flying over the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas, collecting infrared images intended to reveal the release of volatile organic compounds (VOC) from natural gas production and other industrial facilities.