Ending

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.

Based on the state’s latest statistics as of the end of February, North Dakota’s oil production has doubled in the past two years, and with the help of increased rail transportation it is being marketed nationwide.

As the clock was winding down for counties to sign on to the Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale impact fee, also known as Act 13, a Commonwealth Court judge pushed back the start date for portions of the law to give local governments more time to adopt its standardized zoning measures.

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.

The Houston-based arm of energy giant BP plc Tuesday said it was leasing thousands of acres in a yet-to-be explored area of northeastern Ohio’s Utica/Point Pleasant Shale formation near the Pennsylvania border for future natural gas and oil production.

Seneca Resources Corp., the exploration and production (E&P) arm of National Fuel Gas Co., has curtailed some Marcellus Shale production, is delaying some well completion activities there and possibly may not participate in some joint venture wells with partner EOG Resources Inc. because of low natural gas prices, the company said Monday.

Teak Midstream LLC is building more than 200 miles of natural gas gathering and residue delivery pipelines and an adjoining 200 MMcf/d cryogenic gas processing plant in South Texas to better serve producers operating in the Eagle Ford Shale, the Dallas-based company said Tuesday.

Energy Transfer Partners LP said Thursday that new long-term fee based gathering, processing and liquids services agreements with Eagle Ford Shale producers support plans for it to further expand its previously announced Rich Eagle Ford Mainline (REM) pipeline and construct another cryogenic processing facility.

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Friday issued a draft proposal, cutting in half the public lands that could be made available in three western states, and limiting activities to early research and development projects for oil shale and tar sands resources.