Exploratory

Federal officials have given a green light for a project in eastern Utah to drill an exploratory well in the Harley Dome natural gas field to capture helium, which, if the operation proves successful, could result in a helping to build supplies of the scarce gas.

Federal officials have given a green light for a project in eastern Utah to drill an exploratory well in the Harley Dome natural gas field to capture helium, which, if the operation proves successful, could result in a helping to build supplies of the scarce gas.

“Headline” U.S. natural gas production continues to move higher, but signs of decline are emerging in some onshore plays, according to Barclays Capital energy analysts.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Tuesday the number of drilling rigs active in the Utica Shale during the last week of October had more than doubled compared with the same week in 2011, with an increase in rigs targeting oil more than offsetting the loss of natural gas rigs.

An exploratory well drilled in Alaska’s Beaufort Sea bodes well for more aggressive exploration in the Arctic waters in 2013, according to a Royal Dutch Shell plc executive.

An exploratory well drilled in Alaska’s Beaufort Sea bodes well for more aggressive exploration in the Arctic waters in 2013, according to a Royal Dutch Shell plc executive.

It’s early days in Chevron Corp.’s shale natural gas and oil program, but it is “an area of significant long-term growth” with opportunities in the United States, Canada, Argentina, China and Europe — in liquids and dry gas — an executive said during the company’s analyst day Tuesday.

Apache Corp. on Thursday disclosed “encouraging” results from an exploratory drilling program in the emerging Whittenburg Basin in the Texas Panhandle, where five of six initial vertical tests were completed as “oil producers” in the Canyon Wash interval.

An Alaska North Slope exploratory oil well that experienced “a shallow gas kick” Wednesday morning did not cause any injuries, but workers were evacuated as a precaution. The incident occurred at the Qugruk 2 drill site near Nuiqsut, about 625 miles north of Anchorage.