Estimates

Gulfport Energy Corp. expects to increase the number operated horizontal rig count in the Utica Shale to seven from the current four by the end of June, and it has budgeted $494-504 million to drill 55-60 gross (49-54 net) wells in the play this year, company officials said Wednesday.

Energy analysts with Wells Fargo Securities LLC on Wednesday increased their natural gas price forecasts for 2013 and 2014 and cut estimates for 2015.

Rosetta Resources Inc. said it achieved double-digit growth in production and proved reserves while it “significantly reduced” well costs during 2012. The company said it replaced 472% of production from all sources at a reserve replacement cost of $10.03/boe.

Oklahoma City-based Continental Resources Inc., the Bakken’s largest leaseholder, said Monday it has raised its reserves estimates for parts of the Bakken Three Forks area by 57% to 903 billion bbl following completion of an initial test well.

Forecasting increasing natural gas prices through the rest of this year, energy analysts at Raymond James said Monday their estimates indicate natural gas-fired power generation added 6 Bcf/d of demand year over year through May this year.

Rep. Bill Flores (R-TX) has introduced a bill that would further delay action on the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposed rule governing hydraulic fracturing (fracking) activities on public and Indian lands until Interior Secretary Ken Salazar submits a report examining the effects of the rule.

Domestic proved oil and natural gas reserves achieved record annual volumetric increases in 2010, thanks in large part to advances in drilling technology, according to a report released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) Wednesday.

United States natural gas production is expected to increase every year through 2035 thanks to increased shale development, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) complete version of the Annual Energy Outlook 2012 (AEO2012). Just as the preliminary report released in January found (see Shale Daily, Jan. 24), the EIA also believes the United States will transition from being a net importer to a net exporter of natural gas in approximately nine years.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that five Mesozoic shale basins along the East Coast collectively hold a mean of nearly 3.9 Tcf in undiscovered natural gas and 135 million bbl of undiscovered natural gas liquids (NGLs), according to an abstract released last week.