Hired

The Macondo well blowout spilled much less oil than the U.S. government estimates of 4.9 million bbl, according to a reservoir engineering expert hired by operator BP plc.

Kirkpatrick Oil & Gas LLC has hired E-Spectrum Advisors LLC to sell its nonoperated, horizontal Eagle Ford and Pearsall shale properties in La Salle and Frio counties, TX. Kirkpatrick’s ownership includes 41 producing wells, operated by Cheyenne Petroleum Co., making approximately 6,000 gross/135 net boe/d, and nine wells in various stages of drilling and completion. In addition, nine locations are permitted for drilling. Kirkpatrick holds an approximate 3% working interest and the typical lease delivers a 77% net revenue interest. The properties hold 11,281 gross/338 net acres of leasehold. Reserves include net proved reserves of 1.18 MMboe (88% oil/liquids). Offers are due by July 30.

Wyoming has hired a new oil/natural gas supervisor, Grant Black, a 30-year geology veteran who will assume his new position May 1. The state has been without a permanent supervisor at the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (OGCC) since long-time incumbent Tom Doll resigned last year after a run-in with Gov. Matt Mead (see Shale Daily, June 18, 2012). Department veteran Bob King has filled in on an interim basis. Once the oil/gas supervisor in Arkansas (1999-2004), Black holds geology degrees from the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University.

Last Wednesday the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) hired economists said exporting liquefied domestic natural gas would be a boon to the nation’s economy. But in the months ahead, the macroeconomic analysis will stir plenty of debate, long before any cargoes leave port.

On Wednesday the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) hired economists said exporting liquefied domestic natural gas would be a boon to the nation’s economy. But in the months ahead, the macroeconomic analysis will stir plenty of debate, long before any cargoes leave port.

Oklahoma City-based GMX Resources Inc. has hired Global Hunter Securities to help it sell a portion of the company’s Cotton Valley Sand liquids-rich natural gas properties in East Texas. A transaction is expected during the third quarter, GMX said. The company’s natural gas resources are in the East Texas Basin, in the Haynesville/Bossier shale and the Cotton Valley Sand Formation, where the majority of its acreage is contiguous, with infrastructure in place and substantially all held by production, GMX said. In early 2011 GMX branched out from its Haynesville/Bossier properties and acquired about 67,724 net acres within the core horizontal oil development areas of the Bakken/Sanish-Three Forks Formation in the Williston Basin and the Niobrara Formation in the Denver-Julesburg Basin (see Shale Daily, Feb. 2, 2011).

Oil and gas companies could be showing more interest in drilling wells targeting the Marcellus Shale in Wyoming County, PA, after having hired a seismic contractor to perform tests across nearly half of the county on their behalf.

A private firm hired by Chesapeake Energy Corp. has determined that drinking water sources tested by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Bradford County, PA, show no signs of any adverse impact from Marcellus Shale operations.

A Pennsylvania think tank believes employment figures from Marcellus Shale development are overinflated.