natural gas

Mark Watson, interim head of theWyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (OGCC), has been named the new commission chief. Gov. Matt Mead and the other four members voted unanimously for Watson, who has been heading the agency since Grant Black resigned (see Daily GPI,April 1). Watson is a petroleum engineer who graduated from the University of Wyoming. The OGCC also established a deputy supervisor position.

Amelia Resources LLC is hosting a data room through Monday (May 19) to market 138,000 net acres in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS). “Recent results have created a lot of interest in the TMS play [see Shale Daily,May 12;May 8;April 29;April 14],” said Amelia President Kirk Barrell. “Drill times have greatly improved along with a decrease in associated costs.” The parcel being sold is “the only remaining large aggregate block of acreage in the play. We believe that the repeatability and economics of this play will be extremely competitive with other U.S. oil plays.” Barrell said, “The initial potentials, production volumes, and decline curves indicate large recoverable reserves in the range of 400-900 million boe. The play economics, consistency of the reservoir, and resulting reserves will make this a very competitive play for years to come.”

Physical gas for Wednesday delivery weakened in Tuesday trading with eastern points taking hits of 25 cents or more. Only a few scattered points managed to trade in positive territory, and for the most part, locations were down by anywhere from a couple of pennies to a dime or more. On average the market was off nearly a dime.

Magnum Hunter Resources Corp. continued to focus on divesting non-core assets in the first quarter, as it looks to shore-up its liquidity and narrow its focus on two core areas in the Appalachian and Williston Basins that continue to slowly drive production gains.

Halcon Resources Corp. reported forward progress in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS) during the first quarter, while making drilling improvements in the Williston Basin and derisking its holdings in a portion of the Eagle Ford Shale in East Texas.

A unit of Southern California Telephone & Energy (SCT&E) has acquired land on the Calcasieu Ship Channel in Louisiana for development of a $2.4 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) liquefaction and export terminal. The project joins about a dozen others in the Pelican State to export liquefied domestic natural gas.

The city council of Denton, TX, has put the brakes on drilling within the Barnett Shale town, at least until Sept. 9, while city staff and council reconsider drilling rules in light of numerous citizen complaints about drilling and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) activity harming their health and quality of life. No new drilling permits are to be issued while the ordinance is in effect.

A unit of Germany’s BASF and Norway-based Yara plan to construct a world-scale ammonia plant at BASF’s existing site in Freeport, TX, the companies said.

Colorado methane and other more deadly emissions from oil and natural gas operations are much higher than previously recorded in earlier studies, according to a report released by scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado, Boulder.