Interim

To comply with the new state law (SB 4) mandating hydraulic fracturing (fracking) regulations, California oil and natural gas drilling officials on Wednesday designated as “emergency regulations” a set of interim rules that take effect Jan. 1 while permanent rules and an environmental assessment are being finalized (see Shale Daily, Dec. 10).

A bankruptcy court in New York has approved plans by Norse Energy Corp. USA to sell its assets, especially oil and gas leases for about 130,000 net acres in the state’s portion of the Marcellus and Utica shales.

The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Thursday said it plans to develop a proposed rule requiring companies who make chemical substances and mixtures used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to report data on the chemicals.

An interim committee in the Wyoming legislature is considering drafting a bill that would put a severance tax on producers for the amounts of produced natural gas they flare.

No. 3 oilfield services provider Baker Hughes Inc. on Friday reported a 30% drop in first quarter profits, stung by weak North American drilling, its biggest market. Schlumberger Ltd., the world’s largest oilfield services operator, also reported a drop in quarterly profits on declines in North America, and management said the outlook for the United States and Canada this year remains uncertain.

Chevron Corp. expects to report “notably higher” results for 4Q2012 than profits in the previous three months, management said in an interim update.

Forest Oil Corp. has agreed to sell all of its South Texas properties — excluding those in the Eagle Ford Shale — for proceeds of $325 million after tax as part of its ongoing deleveraging plan, the company said Thursday.

As had been expected, the acquisition of Australia’s Eureka Energy Ltd. by Aurora Oil & Gas Ltd. is to be completed, Aurora said in a letter to Eureka shareholders. Both companies have acreage in the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas. Eureka has three core assets with a combined net acreage position of 6,742 acres, all focused on the Eagle Ford, according to the Australian company’s website. “The assets are at different levels of maturity throughout the value chain, from ongoing production and development, appraisal and development to initial technical development,” the company said. Aurora participates in multiple separate joint ventures that form a contiguous land position totaling 76,989 acres that sit at the heart of the Eagle Ford, according to the company (see Shale Daily, July 3; May 1).

The administration’s multi-agency approach to hydraulic fracturing (fracking) studies and the appearance of mission-creep is causing confusion within the oil and natural gas industry, according to some critics on Capitol Hill.