ngi

EnerVest Ltd. is the buyer of SM Energy Co.’s Anadarko Basin properties, including its Granite Wash interests. The sale resulted in cash proceeds of $343 million for Denver-based SM Energy and adds to Granite Wash holdings EnerVest acquired earlier this year.

A vast 449 Tcf of natural gas, 14.9 billion bbl of natural gas liquids (NGL) and 1.1 billion bbl of oil await production in just the best known, most accessible western Canadian shale deposit, according to a federal and provincial report on the Montney geological formation.

Voters in three Colorado towns voted to place moratoriums on natural gas and oil exploration and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) Tuesday, and a moratorium on the ballot in a fourth town failed by just a few votes. The ballot initiatives were seen as largely symbolic efforts, since there is little to no drilling being done in any of the towns.

Physical gas for Thursday delivery jumped on average 8 cents nationally in Wednesday’s trading, with only a handful of individual points in the loss column surrounded by widespread gains. A large cold front was dropping temperatures well below normal as it moved out of the Plains and Midwest into the Great Lakes and into Texas.

During the third quarter, Pioneer Natural Resources Co. turned in some landmark results in the Wolfcamp Shale as the company continued to de-risk the West Texas play.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp.’s infrastructure buildout in Colorado’s Wattenberg field was slowed by recent flooding, and about 250 wells remain shut-in, but the field’s output in the third quarter still more than doubled from a year ago, with U.S. onshore volumes breaking records.

Ultra Petroleum Corp., whose fortunes long have been linked to onshore natural gas, still is struggling a bit to recover from the “train wreck” that was 2012, and in the third quarter it got its mojo on track, with drilling efficiencies improving enough to allow the operator to reduce 2013 capital spending by $30 million, while still maintaining production forecasts.

In what has become a public relations — and financial — concern, California regulatory staff on Tuesday slapped Pacific Gas and Electric Co. with an $8.1 million citation for allegedly failing to meet federal requirements in inspecting part of its natural gas transmission pipeline system earlier this year.

Sempra Energy senior executives said Tuesday they remain optimistic that federal approvals will be in hand by the end of this year for a $9-10 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal at existing import facilities in Cameron, LA.