Patterson

Chesapeake Energy Corp. may ramp up more dry natural gas drilling in the Utica Shale this year, but it also is eyeing a backlog of gas and oil opportunities that stretch across the country that only need higher commodity prices to accelerate activity.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. may ramp up more dry natural gas drilling in the Utica Shale this year, but it also is eyeing a backlog of gas and oil opportunities that stretch across the country that only need higher commodity prices to accelerate activity.

Onshore drilling contractor Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. has to date stacked more than half of its pressure pumping horsepower, an estimated 1 million hp, and expects the fracturing unit to see a 20% further decline in activity during the second quarter, management said Thursday.

Onshore drilling contractor Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. has to date stacked more than half of its pressure pumping horsepower, an estimated 1 million hp, and expects the fracturing unit to see a 20% further decline in activity during the second quarter, management said Thursday.

Expectations that maintenance projects that were deferred in the U.S. onshore last year would resume early in 2016 haven’t panned out as expected, Basic Energy Services Inc. CEO Roe Patterson said Thursday. However, production-related activities “appeared to have stabilized” in March, and there’s optimism, however slight, that work is improving steadily.

Expectations that maintenance projects that were deferred in the U.S. onshore last year would resume early in 2016 haven’t panned out as expected, Basic Energy Services Inc. CEO Roe Patterson said Thursday. However, production-related activities “appeared to have stabilized” in March, and there’s optimism, however slight, that work is improving steadily.

In a pair of deals announced Thursday, Seneca Resources Corp., the exploration and production unit of National Fuel Gas Co., laid out plans to continue shifting its Marcellus Shale drilling rigs from diesel fuel to liquefied natural gas (LNG).

More shale rigs and higher dayrates lifted the latest quarterly earnings of U.S. land-based driller Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. (PTEN), which last week topped Wall Street’s forecasts.

Halliburton Co.said it has reached an agreement to turn over to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) all documents related to fluids used in the controversial hydraulic fracturing (fracking) process, ending a battle that could have landed in court.