Encouraging

Natural gas is a critical part of Colorado’s “all of the above” energy strategy, and it is encouraging its increased development, including the use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking), in a safe and responsible way that can be managed between government and industry, said Gov. John Hickenlooper as part of a Western Governors’ Association (WGA) three-part energy report.

Natural gas is a critical part of Colorado’s “all-of-the-above” energy strategy, and it is encouraging its increased development, including the use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking), in a safe and responsible way that can be managed between government and industry, said Gov. John Hickenlooper as part of a Western Governors’ Association (WGA) three-part energy report (see related item).

Denver-based exploration and production (E&P) independent QEP Resources Inc. reported encouraging results from its first four-well pad drilling on recently acquired South Antelope property in the Williston Basin in North Dakota. QEP said it also completed nine wells — four in the Bakken and five in the Three Forks formations on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.

SM Energy Co. is seeing encouraging results from a test well drilled in the Woodbine formation and has added about 10,000 net acres to its position on the northeastern edge of the Eagle Ford Shale in East Texas.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar on Friday announced the department’s final plan for encouraging research, development and demonstration (RD&D) of oil shale and tar sands resources on more than 800,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands in three western states.

WPX Energy Inc. said its first horizontal test well targeting the Niobrara formation in western Colorado’s Piceance Basin has produced encouraging results, with the potential of more than doubling its proved, probable and possible (3P) reserves.

Canada’s BNK Petroleum Inc. announced Sunday that its subsidiary in the United States has so far seen “very encouraging results” from a test well in southern Oklahoma’s Tishomingo field, in the Ardmore Basin of the Woodford Shale.

In separate announcements, Gulfport Energy Corp. and Seneca Resources Corp. reported that they are achieving encouraging production results from some of the first horizontal wells drilled in the Utica Shale.

Houston-based ZaZa Energy has completed drilling and casing its Eaglebine Stingray A-1H well in Walker County, TX, and evaluation results are “very encouraging,” with estimates of 21 Bcf of gas and 29 million bbl of oil per section in place. ZaZa expects to begin hydraulic fracturing operations on Monday (Nov. 12), with initial production planned for late this month.