Good

Setting aside low natural gas prices and unseasonably warm weather in the first quarter, Bismarck, ND-based MDU Resources Group Inc. is riding the continuing Bakken Shale boom in its home state, growing its oil production 19% for the first three months of this year and increasing its working rig count from two to 10 for its exploration and production (E&P) unit over the most recent quarter-over-quarter period.

Producers’ migration to liquids-rich shale plays in pursuit of higher returns in a low-gas price era has been good for the midstream energy sector, which can look forward to increased capital spending and a robust environment through the middle of next year and possibly beyond, according to a new report from Moody’s Investors Service.

A newly formed organization that represents about 2,000 New York property owners in Tioga County has signed a preliminary agreement with developers to stimulate unconventional natural gas wells using waterless hydraulic fracturing (fracking) that may bypass the state’s drilling moratorium.

Cheap natural gas, courtesy of shale plays, is bringing industry back to the United States, growing economies along the Gulf Coast, in the Northeast and elsewhere. But it has also made holding gas transportation capacity a more dicey prospect for end-users, and there is a risk that some of the energy industry’s risk management muscle could atrophy while on a diet of low prices and low volatility.

Over the last year or so hydraulic fracturing (fracking) has become a headline issue, and how one feels about it depends to a good degree on who one is. Generally though, as fracking garners more scrutiny the belief that it is worth doing hasn’t wavered much, a recent poll found.

Long under attack from New Jersey and environmental officials, Spectra Energy got good news Friday when the proposed expansion of its affiliate Texas Eastern Transmission and Algonquin Gas Transmission pipelines received a favorable final environmental impact statement (FEIS) at FERC, which put it one step away from receiving a certificate.

Long under attack from New Jersey and environmental officials, Spectra Energy got good news Friday. The proposed expansion of its affiliate Texas Eastern Transmission and Algonquin Gas Transmission pipelines to deliver an additional 800,000 Dth/d into the New York City area received a favorable final environmental impact statement (FEIS) at FERC, which puts it one step away from receiving a certificate.

A turn toward oil and natural gas liquids (NGL) last year did a good turn for earnings at Houston-based W&T Offshore Inc. “Solid” oil and liquids production in a bull market for same lifted the company’s operating income to the highest level in its history, CEO Tracy W. Krohn told financial analysts Friday.

There’s enough water in the Carrizo Wilcox Aquifer in South Texas to support Eagle Ford Shale oil and gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing as well as other uses, such as irrigation, according to the Eagle Ford Task Force. This is in spite of a drought that has gripped most of Texas, according to experts.