Leases

Inspired by pioneering legislation in Texas, a Pennsylvania state lawmaker is proposing a bill that would require Marcellus Shale operators to disclose all the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) operations.

Goodrich Petroleum Corp. has purchased leases totaling about 74,000 net acres in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS) oil trend in Louisiana and Mississippi for an average $175 per net acre, the Houston-based company said Monday.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) generated nearly $1 million at an auction Tuesday from the sale of oil and gas leases on about 13,820 acres in Wyoming.

Chevron Corp. is buying another 228,000 net acres in the Marcellus Shale from privately held Chief Oil & Gas LLC and Tug Hill Inc. for an undisclosed amount, which when completed would give the oil major an estimated 5 Tcf of additional natural gas resources in the hot shale play.

New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) should complete work on a supplemental generic environmental impact statement (SGEIS) on hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) by July 1 and the State Assembly should “reject all forms of obstructive legislation” that would delay natural gas development, according to letters sent to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and lawmakers by the The Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York (IOGA).

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. is buying BP America Production Co.’s 93% interest in the Wattenberg Processing Plant for $575.5 million. The plant in Adams County in northeast Colorado can process up to 195 MMcf/d of natural gas and 15,000 b/d of natural gas liquids and gas condensate. Upon closing Anadarko will operate and have 100% ownership. Anadarko volumes represent about 70% of plant throughput, said Chuck Meloy, Anadarko senior vice president of worldwide operations. “We are the largest producer in the Wattenberg field, with current sales volumes of approximately 63,000 boe/d, and our early efforts in the emerging horizontal Niobrara play are very encouraging,” Meloy said. The transaction is expected to close by mid-year, subject to regulatory approvals and contractual conditions.

Recovery Energy Inc. announced Monday that it has closed on a $12.3 million cash-and-stock deal to acquire oil and gas leases on 8,060 net acres from Houston-based Wapiti Oil & Gas LLC. The leasehold is located primarily northwest of the prolific Silo field in Laramie County, WY. The Wapiti sale follows Denver-based Recovery’s acquisition last month of approximately 1,700 acres in Weld County, CO and about 6,600 net acres in Goshen County, WY from various private individuals for $1.9 million in cash and stock. The combined acquisitions bring Recovery’s holdings in the Denver-Julesburg Basin to 148,000 gross acres (134,000 net acres).

The former chief of the New York Department of Conservation (DEC), whose ouster in October was criticized by producers and environmental groups alike, told state lawmakers last week that massive cutbacks in commission staff have become a “shell game” that didn’t take into account the consequences for stakeholders.

A quarterly oil and natural gas lease sale conducted by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) last Wednesday netted about $13.3 million in revenues from the sale of leases on 48 federal parcels in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas.