Firms

Terra Energy Corp. said it is targeting international companies — particularly Asian firms — for a possible joint venture (JV) — and it is considering the sale of its natural gas-rich Montney Shale portfolio in British Columbia (BC) as it shifts toward more oil and natural gas liquids (NGL) production.

Poland’s technically recoverable shale gas resources are much lower than projections made last year by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), according to a report issued Wednesday.

A Rockies producer had a pithy description of the current gas market: “It stinks!” Industrial firms that use gas as a feedstock and almost everyone enjoying lower gas bills might disagree, but it’s likely that many others in the gas industry also would prefer a sweeter-smelling market.

The Joint House-Senate supercommittee Tuesday was called on by a coalition of Senate and House Democrats to include a 0.03% tax on banking and financial firms’ nonconsumer transactions, including trading of derivative contracts, options, puts, forward contracts, swaps and other complex instruments, in their upcoming deficit-reduction legislation.

Quicksilver Resources Inc. is hoping to turn some of its Barnett Shale assets into a cash breadbasket through the creation of a master limited partnership (MLP). Proceeds would be used to pay down Quicksilver debt.

The outlook for oil output from the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas is strong enough to cause analysts at Wood Mackenzie to predict that it will rival the Bakken Shale by 2015 as North America’s leading tight-oil producer.

Two technology firms on Thursday partnered to create an engineering and geoscience “solution” to allow unconventional oil and gas operators to incorporate microseismic data and hydraulic fracturing designs to help them model their well fractures.

North America’s abundant natural gas resources have begun to weaken Russia’s influence on Europe’s energy supplies and could counter Iran’s influence as an energy supplier, according to research by the Baker Institute Energy Forum at Rice University.

Howard Energy Partners (HEP) announced it has acquired Texas Pipeline LLC and Bottom Line Services LLC for $76 million. Two firms — Crosstex Energy LP and Quanta Services Inc. — each provided $35 million in initial funding in exchange for about a 35% share of San Antonio-based HEP. Texas Pipeline operates 250 miles of gathering lines in the Eagle Ford and Pearsall shale plays. Bottom Line has built more than 500 miles of pipeline and installed more than 50 midstream facilities in the Eagle Ford.