Plays

Continuing a months-long upturn, oil and natural gas production from the nation’s seven most prolific unconventional plays is expected to move higher in April compared with the previous month, according to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Marathon Oil Corp. capital spending will be at least $600 million less in 2016 compared with this year, and in the United States, unconventional plays will get the dollars as they have proven to be more economic than conventional activities, CEO Lee Tillman said in New York City Wednesday.

With flaring an issue in North Dakota’s Bakken and other shale plays, emerging technologies, such as those from New Jersey-based Primus Green Energy Inc., offer the potential for operators to turn associated natural gas production into commercially viable liquid products, including gasoline and methanol.

Two Houston-based major players in the Eagle Ford and Bakken shale plays said Thursday they are further cutting back on operations this year in light of the oil price crash.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) and a bevy of independent analysts have predicted domestic natural gas production will climb rapidly over the long-term because of booming unconventional gas growth. However, the University of Texas at Austin (UT) is predicting production from the biggest shale gas plays — Marcellus, Barnett, Fayetteville and Haynesville — will peak by 2020 and decline thereafter.

Reporting U.S. and overall production growth of 33% and 17%, respectively, EOG Resources senior executives talked bullishly on a 2Q2014 conference call Tuesday about new and existing shale plays with an emphasis on liquids-rich crude oil. They expressed no interest in new dry natural gas plays, citing current low domestic prices.

Production of North American natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGL), crude oil and condensate is expected to continue increasing through 2035, according to a report from ICF International.

Checking a map is the first step to knowing where one is going, but when it comes to forecasting shale gas supply and demand, the map can throw some international gas end-users off course.

Oklahoma City’s Continental Resources Inc. is preparing for a 26-32% increase in oil and natural gas production in 2014, CEO Harold Hamm said Tuesday.