Wyoming’s Bureau of Land Management garnered more than $6.17 million for leasing rights and rental fees offered at its bimonthly federal oil and gas lease auction held in Cheyenne Aug. 1. That marks a more than 40% increase over proceeds from the state’s previous sale in June. By comparison, the June sale garnered $4.4 million. The state gets half of the sale proceeds.
Land
Articles from Land
St. Mary Grows Production, Sees Higher Prices
Denver-based St. Mary Land & Exploration Co. reported record net income and production for the first half of 2006. In the second quarter the company’s production rose 3% sequentially and 4% over the second quarter of 2005. This came in spite of increasing service and drilling costs, “fierce competition” for resources and declining natural gas prices, said CEO Mark Hellerstein.
Chesapeake Declares Gas Acquisition Game Over
“The industry’s acreage land grab of the last five years is largely over. Virtually every conventional and unconventional gas resource play in the U.S. is totally locked up. The winners for the next 10 to 20 years have already been chosen and the losers will pay the price for years to come for being left behind.”
Chesapeake Declares Gas Acquisition Game Over
“The industry’s acreage land grab of the last five years is largely over. Virtually every conventional and unconventional gas resource play in the U.S. is totally locked up. The winners for the next 10 to 20 years have already been chosen and the losers will pay the price for years to come for being left behind.”
People
Sugar Land, TX-based Noble Corp. announced Thursday that Chairman and CEO James C. Day will retire effective April 30, 2007, which is consistent with a long standing succession planning process within the company. Day will retire from the board and the company after 30 years of service, 24 of which he has served as CEO. The board of directors also announced that it is their intent to name Mark A. Jackson as CEO after Day’s retirement. Noble Corp. provides diversified services — including contract drilling — for the oil and gas industry internationally.
BLM Takes Comments on Pinedale Pipeline Corridor Expansions
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is taking public comments on a required expansion of several existing gas pipeline corridors out of the Pinedale, WY, area. Multiple gas pipelines have been planned and several corridors will have to be expanded to support gas production growth, BLM said.
Marathon Adds 200,000 Acres in Bakken Shale Play
Looking to bolster its position in the Williston Basin, Marathon Oil Corp. said Tuesday that it completed a series of land acquisitions totaling almost 200,000 leasehold acres in the Bakken Shale play in North Dakota and eastern Montana.
BLM, MMS Request Comments on Enhanced Recovery, Gas Hydrate Royalty Relief Plans
Acting on specifications in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Minerals Management Service (MMS) published requests for comments in the Federal Register this week to prepare for proposed rulemakings that would provide royalty relief for gas and oil production using enhanced recovery techniques and for gas production from methane hydrates.
BLM Issues Scoping of Draft EIS on Wyoming Gas Projects
The federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has issued a notice of intent (NOI) to prepare an environmental impact statement and related scoping process for two combined Rockies gas exploration and development plays planned by Devon Energy Corp. and BP, covering potentially up to 8,950 new natural gas wells in what the BLM has designated as the “Continental Divide-Creston Natural Gas Project.”
BLM Targeted for Focusing on Drilling Permits While WY Wildlife Suffers Sharp Declines
While acknowledging steep declines in the wildlife population around hot drilling areas in Wyoming, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) said a recent article in The Washington Post that accuses the agency and the Bush administration of turning a blind eye to the environment and to wildlife in the state is “misleading” and contains inaccuracies.