Operating

Poking around in the Anadarko Basin in the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma above its Granite Wash holdings, Chesapeake Energy Corp. said Friday it made “a significant new discovery” of oil in the Hogshooter play.

Ultra Petroleum Corp. said that while it produced record volumes during 1Q2012 and was optimistic about its plans to target oil shale in the Niobrara, it would follow the example of its joint venture (JV) partners in the Marcellus and cut capital expenditures (capex) for the rest of the year.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has levied a $40,000 fine on an Ultra Petroleum Corp. subsidiary for several violations from 2011, including operating an illegal transfer station from a Marcellus Shale well pad in Potter County.

With an emphasis on oil over natural gas, Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum Corp. (Oxy) continued to shatter company production records in barrels of oil equivalent (boe) globally and domestically, Oxy senior executives said Thursday. At 755,000 boe Oxy’s daily oil/gas production was the highest in its history; and its U.S. totals of 455,000 boe set a record for the sixth straight quarter.

Devon Energy Corp. is not actively developing any dry natural gas plays in North America, nor does it have any rigs operating in gas-only plays, the management team said last week.

Energy Transfer Partners LP said Thursday that new long-term fee based gathering, processing and liquids services agreements with Eagle Ford Shale producers support plans for it to further expand its previously announced Rich Eagle Ford Mainline (REM) pipeline and construct another cryogenic processing facility.

The Texas Supreme Court may soon decide on a request to revisit a 2011 opinion on the use of eminent domain that some industry representatives say could stymie the efforts of companies trying to build oil and gas pipelines to service growing production in the state’s shale plays.

BP plc has accumulated close to 450,000 net acres in the the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas, executives said Tuesday.

Hess Corp. announced Thursday that it would spend $6.8 billion in global capital expenditures (capex) in 2012, more than one-third of which would target unconventional sources in the United States, specifically the Bakken, Eagle Ford and Utica shales.