Horizontal

As the state of New York missed Wednesday’s deadline to create regulations for high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF), supporters and opponents of the practice took aim at Gov. Andrew Cuomo, anti-fracking lawmakers sought a one-year moratorium, and a landowners group said it would sue the state over the delay.

Utica Shale operators are discovering that with some patience and seasoning, estimated ultimate recoveries (EUR) for liquids reserves appear to move higher.

Range Resources Corp. said Wednesday its production volumes in 4Q2012 hit a record 844 MMcfe/d, 35% higher year/year, which it attributed in large part to oil and natural gas liquids (NGL) growth in liquids-rich shale plays, presumably the Marcellus Shale and the Mississippian Lime.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) said it has issued 431 permits for drilling horizontal wells into the Utica Shale.

The onshore United States “remains the No. 1 place for investment” and the likelihood for future deal making “remains high,” according to Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. (TPH) CEO Bobby Tudor.

San Diego, CA-based Osage Exploration and Development Inc. reported Monday that it has spudded its fourth horizontal oil well in the Mississippian Lime formation and the rock quality appears promising. The well — the McPhail #2-18H in section 18-18N-3W of Logan County, OK –. is in the 30,000-plus acre Nemaha Ridge project, which is owned by Osage in conjunction with its partners, project operator Slawson Exploration Co. and U.S. Energy Development Corp.

An energy official in New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration said natural gas is being viewed as a potential “bridge fuel” to the future, when technological advances will presumably open the door for renewables.

The village council of Carrollton, OH, has voted in favor of a nondevelopmental oil and natural gas lease agreement with Rex Energy Corp. that was valued at $938,000 on Monday.

It didn’t take that long for the horizontal drilling technology and hydraulic fracturing stimulation technique that unlocked huge stores of unconventional natural gas to be transferred to the oil patch, and now oily producers face as bleak a future for prices and activity as their gassy brethren, energy analysts with Raymond James & Associates Inc. said last week.