Hydraulic

The horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques used to tap natural gas production from shales is beginning to “transform” the oil industry, according to a market analysis issued on Monday by Bentek Energy LLC.

John Hanger, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, said late last week he had seen no evidence that hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) chemicals used to drill for shale gas contaminate underground water supplies.

Privately held explorer Chief Oil & Gas LLC plans to voluntarily disclose the hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracing) additives it uses in the Marcellus Shale, the producer said late Wednesday.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved Cadeville Gas Storage LLC’s application to build a planned gas storage facility in Ouachita Parish, LA, approximately 10 miles southwest of Monroe. Storage services are scheduled to begin in 2012. The three- to four-turn facility is being designed to provide a peak deliverability of 420 MMcf/d and a peak injection of 420 MMcf/d. Cadeville plans to convert a depleted gas reservoir to develop a total of 16.5 Bcf of working capacity. The facility would have the ability to interconnect to Tennessee Gas Pipeline Line 100, Gulf South’s Middle 30, Gulf South’s 42-inch East Texas to Mississippi Expansion, Texas Gas Transmission, CenterPoint Energy Line CP and Energy Transfer Partners’ 42″ Tiger Pipeline. Open seasons held in 2009 (see NGI, April 6, 2009) and earlier this summer (see NGI, May 31) received total bids for more than twice the amount of working gas capacity proposed in its application, according to Cadeville.

Nabors Industries Ltd. on Monday said it offered to buy Superior Well Services Inc., a hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracing) pumping services specialist, in a transaction worth an estimated $900 million, including debt.

An amendment by Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) seeking to strike a provision allowing federal regulation of hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracing) activities on federal lands fueled an extensive debate during mark-up of a broader bill by the House Natural Resources Committee.

George P. Mitchell, founder of Mitchell Energy & Development Corp. and one of the pioneers of hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracing) and drilling technologies in natural gas shale, was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Gas Technology Institute. A petroleum engineer with geology training from Texas A&M University, Mitchell was one of the first to believe natural gas could be extracted from shale. Not wanting his oil wells to go to waste in the event of flow shortages, Mitchell employees drilled into the little-explored Barnett Shale in North Texas beginning in the 1990s and tested hydrofracing techniques on more than 30 wells, with some wells’ production barely even covering the cost of operation. Devon Energy Corp. acquired the company in 2002 and subsequently revolutionized the unconventional shale gas play (see Daily GPI, Jan. 25, 2002; Aug. 15, 2001). “I’m truly honored to be receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Gas Technology Institute,” said Mitchell. “I believe that the United States should examine all forms of natural gas in order to ease our dependence on coal and foreign oil. It is my hope that my efforts will aid the search for new and unconventional energy sources that can be used by my grandchildren and great-grandchildren.”

Federal regulation of the well stimulation technique known as hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracing) would hamstring the oil and natural gas industry and likely would force the U.S. to import natural gas from foreign sources, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) told the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last Wednesday.

Federal regulation of the well stimulation technique known as hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracing) would hamstring the oil and natural gas industry and likely would force the U.S. to import natural gas from foreign sources, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) told the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Wednesday.