Marine

Analysts are keeping an eye on costs and production results from the still-emerging Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS), but Amelia Resources LLC is going “100 mph” to market 47,300 net acres in the play, which management believes may hold a resource potential of more than 1 billion bbl.

By 2025 natural gas is expected to overtake coal as the second most used fuel worldwide and North America will have transitioned to become a net energy exporter, while by 2040 global energy demand will have increased by almost 35% from 2010 levels, according to ExxonMobil Corp.’s Outlook for Energy: A View to 2040, which wasreleased Tuesday.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar Thursday directed the Marine Well Containment Co. (MWCC) to conduct a live drill this summer of its $1 billion oil spill containment system, which was developed following the the Macondo well blowout and deadly rig explosion in in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) in 2010.

Goodrich Petroleum Corp. Wednesday confirmed that a recently drilled well in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS) of Louisiana and Mississippi had an initial flow rate exceeding 1,000 boe/d.

Encana Corp. said Friday it has secured a well-heeled unit of Toyota Tsusho Corp. to partner in its languishing Alberta coalbed methane (CBM) gas fields in the Horseshoe Canyon Fairway, agreeing to sell close to a one-third stake in the resource play, including natural gas production from 5,500 existing wells.

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.

No more big unconventional plays out there, you say? Don’t tell shale pioneer Devon Energy Corp., which on Wednesday validated the prospective Tuscaloosa Marine Shale, where it has leased 250,000 net acres for $180/acre.

Norway’s Statoil ASA, which has extensive drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico, has joined the Marine Well Containment Co. (MWCC), which was formed after the Macondo well blowout to improve capabilities to contain future underwater well control incidents. “Our membership underpins Statoil’s continued and strong commitment to the Gulf of Mexico,” said Statoil’s Bill Maloney, executive vice president, North America development and production. “The equipment and capabilities developed by MWCC are important to build confidence and ensure safe deepwater operations as we resume drilling in the area. Statoil plans to actively contribute…” The MWCC’s interim well containment system now is capable of operating in water depths of up to 8,000 feet and processing up to 60,000 b/d of fluid. Work is under way to expand the system for delivery in 2012 to operate in water depths of up to 10,000 feet and process up to 100,000 b/d of fluid. MWCC members include U.S. offshore units of ExxonMobil Corp., Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips, Royal Dutch Shell plc, BP plc, Apache Corp., Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Australia’s BHP Billiton.

A subsidiary of Houston’s Apache Corp. is the newest member of the Marine Well Containment Co. (MWCC), which was formed last year by Big Oil producers to help respond to well control incidents in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM).