Effect

During the third quarter, Southwestern Energy Co. grew natural gas and oil production by 12% from a year ago. Costs associated with its Fayetteville Shale activities declined while well results there improved. Marcellus Shale production more than doubled from a year ago, and the company continues to find its way in the emerging Brown Dense play.

During the third quarter Irving, TX-based Pioneer Natural Resources Co. set a new production record in the Eagle Ford Shale, where it said its choke management program continues to improve well performance. Continued development of the Wolfcamp Shale in West Texas is setting the play up to be a “significant” contributor to production growth in the future, the company said.

Houston-based Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. grew its natural gas production by 31% and its liquids production 61% during the third quarter compared to year-ago levels, the company said. It credited much of the growth to the Marcellus Shale, where infrastructure constraints that delayed some wells during the second quarter have been overcome.

A coalition of 14 environmental groups has asked Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett to reverse a Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) policy that requires field offices to advise senior DEP officials of their intent to acknowledge water contamination related to Marcellus Shale gas well operations before notification letters are sent to potentially affected homeowners.

Environmental groups on Tuesday filed a lawsuit in California claiming that state regulators had failed to “consider or evaluate” the risks of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) as required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Hurricane Isaac caused considerable disruption to natural gas processing infrastructure along the Gulf Coast, although it had a negligible effect on natural gas prices because of ample onshore production and surplus storage, the Energy Information Administration said Thursday.

Friday morning Kinder Morgan Inc.’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline lifted a critical day 1 operational flow order (OFO) that had been in effect for balancing parties downstream of its Station 249 in zones 5 and 6 (see Daily GPI, Aug. 31).

Oil and natural gas operators working in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea area would have a negligible effect on polar bears and walruses, according to a federal appeals court, which on Tuesday backed rules issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).

Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line (Transco) is holding an open season through Aug. 23 for capacity on the Mobile Bay South III lateral expansion in Alabama, which is set to be online in the fall of 2014 and provide up to 325,000 Dth/d of firm capacity to the southeastern United States. The additional capacity would be available from Station 85 near Butler, AL, to points along the lateral as far south as the interconnection with Bay Gas Storage Co. Ltd.’s facilities near Mobile, AL. Williams Partners Ltd. said the final capacity, scope and cost of the project will be determined by the open season. For information contact Toi Anderson at (713) 215-4540.