Expense

Intangible drilling costs (IDC) are “an ordinary and necessary business expense of the oil and gas industry,” and should only be modified as part of a broader tax reform package — and in combination with a lower, globally competitive corporate tax rate — according to Industrial Energy Consumers of America (IECA).

Intangible drilling costs (IDC) are “an ordinary and necessary business expense of the oil and gas industry,” and should only be modified as part of a broader tax reform package — and in combination with a lower, globally competitive corporate tax rate — according to Industrial Energy Consumers of America (IECA).

Incremental Northeast gas production during September will be driven by gathering system tie-ins, Bentek Energy LLC said in a Natural Gas Production Monitor market note. Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. (Transco) is expected to add connections to two Penn Virginia Resource Partners LP gathering systems and additional compression on Williams’ Springville system is to come online this month, Bentek said. “Combined delivery capacity to Transco from the new tie-ins and compression upgrades will amount to more than 1 Bcf/d; however, Transco will likely not be able to accept more than 0.4 Bcf/d with a substantial portion of the Leidy Line capacity reserved for no-notice service,” the firm said. It expects Northeast production to add 0.2 Bcf/d during September, with the remainder of the Transco capacity filling through October. In November, the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Northeast Supply Diversification and the National FuelGas Co. Northern Access expansions are expected to support a winter production growth rate of about 0.2 Bcf/d each month through January (see Shale Daily, July 18), Bentek said.

A new completion design doubled initial production (IP) rates from the Marcellus Shale in southwestern Pennsylvania for Range Resources, the Fort Worth, TX-based company said Thursday.

Demand for oilfield services in North America’s onshore — especially hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) — is growing faster than companies can add equipment, Halliburton CEO Dave Lesar said Monday.

Appalachian production for the exploration and production (E&P) arm of National Fuel Gas Co. escalated in the last quarter of 2010 at a triple-digit pace year/year, jumping 184% to 8.1 Bcfe, with most of the gains — 5.9 Bcfe — from the Marcellus Shale, executives said Friday.

Marking a U-turn of sorts in the company’s exploration and production strategy due to low natural gas prices and a premium on liquids prices, Range Resources Corp. in its 3Q2010 earnings call put its Barnett Shale properties in Texas on the block and announced that it plans to focus on its “liquids-rich plays” in the Marcellus Shale.

The House last Wednesday passed by a wide margin Democratic legislation that would extend tax breaks for renewable energy and energy efficiency at the expense of oil and natural gas producers.

The House Wednesday passed by a wide margin Democratic legislation that would extend tax breaks for renewable energy and energy conservation at the expense of oil and natural gas producers.