Held

The senior executives of Halcon Resources Corp. have a fatter checkbook than when they started Eagle Ford Shale pioneer Petrohawk Energy Corp. not so very long ago. Having sold that successful natural gas-focused venture, with Halcon they are targeting unconventional oil plays with a similar strategy and expecting similar success.

Noble Energy Inc. is selling oil and natural gas properties in the Permian Basin to privately held Sheridan Holding Co. II LLC of Houston for $320 million as part of an ongoing divestiture plan, the company said Tuesday.

A Colorado State University (CSU) team led by former Gov. Bill Ritter briefed California’s oil and natural gas officials about how Colorado’s drilling rules that encompass hydraulic fracturing stipulations were able to satisfy environmental concerns — an issue California faces as legislators consider whether to establish a fracking moratorium or not (see Shale Daily, June 28).

Texas and Pennsylvania stakeholders are revving up their natural gas vehicle (NGV) engines but policies and infrastructure continue to be out of sight.

Privately held Green Energy Oilfield Services LLC has turned to liquefied natural gas (LNG) to power its trucking fleet that hauls liquid wastes from oil and natural gas drilling operations in the Freestone Trend in central-northeast Texas.

Wyoming’s Office of State Lands and Investments has tightened the limits to extend coalbed methane (CBM) leases that aren’t held by production in the midst of growing requests because of sagging natural gas prices.

Former natural gas industry executive Sheffield Nelson has enlisted the aid of economist Charles Venus in his campaign to raise the severance tax that Arkansas levies on natural gas production. Raising the tax to 7% would mean an additional $155 million per year for state coffers, the equivalent of less than a day and a half of profits for ExxonMobil, Venus said recently.

Members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly have begun considering House Bill 2399, which among other things would provide a tax credit to companies that create new jobs related to the Marcellus Shale.

In the final lease sale under the existing five-year Outer Continental Shelf plan, to be held on June 20, the Interior Department will make available to producers all unleased areas in the Central Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Planning Area offshore Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, including 7,276 blocks on about 38.6 million acres.