Meet

Noble Inc., one of the biggest offshore drilling contractors in the world, is updating its extensive global drilling suite to meet the needs of its clients, a do-over of a strategy from the late 1990s, when offshore rigs were merely upgraded, CEO David Williams said Thursday.

A coalition of New York landowners who support natural gas development came to the state capital on Wednesday to meet elected officials backing their cause and to deliver them a six-point landowners’ “declaration of rights.”

Copano Energy LLC plans to add an additional 400 MMcf/d of cryogenic processing capacity at its Houston Central complex in Colorado County, TX, to meet demand from producers in the liquids rich Eagle Ford Shale. The expansion would bring Copano’s cryogenic capacity at the facility to 1 Bcf/d. The project is expected to cost $190 million and be in service mid-2014. Copano also announced a new long-term fee-based gathering and processing agreement with a “major” Eagle Ford producer, which combined with previously announced producer commitments, will support the expansion. Copano had previously announced plans for an initial 400 MMcf/d cryogenic processing expansion at Houston Central, which is expected to be in service during the first quarter of 2013 (see Shale Daily, April 21, 2011). “This second cryogenic expansion project reaffirms our commitment to being a leading midstream service provider in the Eagle Ford shale,” said CEO R. Bruce Northcutt.

Total exploratory well completions rose during the first three months of this year, but natural gas drilling fell by 28% from a year ago, according to the American Petroleum Institute’s (API) latest well completion report. There were 2,495 natural gas wells completed in the quarter, while oil well completions were pegged at 5,352, down 1% from activity in 1Q2011; dry holes were estimated at 1,116 completions. The Washington, DC-based producer group reported that a total of 8,963 wells — both exploration and development — were completed in the first three months, down 9% from the same period of 2011. Total well completions were 9,877 in 1Q2011, including 5,425 oil well completions, 3,444 gas well completions and 1,008 dry holes. A total of 10,383 total wells — 6,149 oil wells, 3,217 gas wells and 1,017 dry holes — were completed in 4Q2011 (see NGI, Feb. 6). While overall well completions dropped in 1Q2012, exploratory well completions rose 12% from year-ago levels.

As part of lackluster first quarter results released Wednesday, Hess Corp. said it doesn’t expect to meet production targets in the Bakken Shale this year, but warned analysts to be patient with the company while it shifts its focus from international basins toward its three liquids rich shale plays in the United States.

The California Department of Conservation (DOC) is requesting that oil and natural gas operators voluntarily disclose where they are using hydraulic fracturing (fracking) for their drilling operations and what chemicals are being used in the process. Meanwhile, the state legislature has reintroduced a proposal to require the drilling information, which already has been enacted by several states across the country and is being voluntarily disclosed by many of the biggest operators in the shale business (see Shale Daily, March 30).

India’s state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd. (ONGC) announced Friday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with ConocoPhillips to explore and develop shale and deepwater resources in India and North America.

India’s Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MPNG) on Tuesday told lawmakers in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the country’s Parliament, it will announce a new regulatory framework for shale gas development by March 31.

A state official said a bill advancing in the Pennsylvania General Assembly that offers tax breaks to large businesses could also be used to help the state lure an ethane cracker and the thousands of jobs it would provide.