Leasehold

Betting that a shale gas industry may develop in the state in the future, the Illinois Senate on Thursday passed 54-0 a measure (SB 3280) to regulate hydraulic fracturing (fracking), which would require the disclosure of chemicals used in fracking operations.

A judge in New York State has ruled that an ordinance and a zoning requirement enacted last year by the town of Dryden, NY, essentially banning all Marcellus Shale oil and gas activities in the municipality, are not preempted by state law and can remain in effect.

Just days after it announced that it would suspend drilling in the Huron Shale, EQT Corp. said Thursday that its 2011 earnings totaled $479.8 million and annual production increased more than 44% from a year ago, to 194.4 Bcfe.

SM Energy Co. intends “to pursue any and all legal remedies” arising from Endeavour International Corp.’s decision to terminate agreements to buy a 42,000-acre leasehold and associated pipeline assets in McKean and Potter counties in northern Pennsylvania, the Denver-based company said.

Endeavour International Corp. on Wednesday said it has terminated purchase and sale agreements with SM Energy Co. and other minority owners to buy a 42,000-acre leasehold and associated pipeline assets in McKean and Potter counties in northern Pennsylvania.

Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp. has agreed to purchase approximately 50,000 net leasehold acres in the Bakken Shale play from an undisclosed private oil and gas company for $540 million in cash and $50 million in stock, and agreed to assume the terms of a drilling rig contract.

Seeking gas gathering capacity for its joint venture exploration and production operations in the Marcellus Shale, Ontario-based Epsilon Energy Ltd. said it has entered an agreement with its partners Chesapeake Energy Corp. and Statoil USA Onshore Properties Inc. to construct a new gathering system.

Houston-based independent Magnum Hunter Resources Corp.’s Triad Hunter LLC unit has bought Marcellus Shale oil and gas properties and leasehold mineral interests in Wetzel County, WV, for $20 million, the company said. The assets acquired include 2,225 net contiguous acres containing 20 identified horizontal drilling locations, of which seven gross locations are currently booked as proved undeveloped. A company analysis conducted in December found that the assets contained total proved reserves of about 11.5 Bcfe (16% proved developed producing) with net production of 517 Mcfe/d (100% natural gas).

Escondido Resources II LLC of Midland, TX, has sold 11,050 net acres in the Eagle Ford Shale for $115.3 million. The sale consists of three distinct blocks of acreage located mainly in La Salle County in South Texas, Escondido said Tuesday.