Performance

Two producer groups have protested the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final new source performance standards, which are aimed at restricting volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and sulfur dioxide emissions from onshore natural gas operations, including hydraulically fractured (fracked) wells.

Two Washington, DC-based groups representing oil and gas producers have protested the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final new source performance standards, which are aimed at restricting volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and sulfur dioxide emissions from onshore natural gas operations, including hydraulically fractured (fracked) wells. One of the groups is seeking a stay of the EPA’s action.

Two producer groups have protested the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final new source performance standards, which are aimed at restricting volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and sulfur dioxide emissions from onshore natural gas operations, including hydraulically fractured (fracked) wells.

National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NOV), which this year has completed six acquisitions worth $2 billion, on Thursday continued its shopping spree with a $2.5 billion cash offer for Texas operator Robbins & Myers (R&M). The deal would mark NOV’s biggest single acquisition since 2008, when it paid $7.7 billion to buy Grant Prideco.

Infrastructure constraints during the second quarter put a crimp in SM Energy Co.’s operated Eagle Ford Shale output, prompting the Denver-based company to divert some capital to the Permian Basin, where getting production to market is easier for the time being. And a steep drop in net income pummeled the Denver-based producer’s shares.

Natural gas and oil drilling could be slowed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed New Source Performance Standards, resulting in less production and royalties, according to a study funded by the American Petroleum Institute (API) that was released Friday.

With ethane prices down more than 30% in January alone, consumers and analysts on the consuming end of the ethane pipeline might be tempted to say the market is moving toward saturation. Not so, said Enterprise Products Partners COO Jim Teague; the bears are “talking their book.

Research projects to study ways for improving the environmental performance of unconventional natural gas development are being sought by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), a facility of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy.

Encana Corp. delivered strong operational performance in 3Q2011, with North American onshore natural gas and liquids output up 6% from the year-ago period, the company said Thursday. However, CEO Randy Eresman said many of the gas giant’s “drier” plays will see less spending in 2012 to direct more of the budget to pricier liquids-rich and oily shales.