Produce

Dallas-based Pioneer Natural Resources Co. has agreed with a subsidiary of Carmeuse Holding S.A. (Luxembourg) to acquire its U.S. industrial sands business, Carmeuse Industrial Sands (CIS), for $297 million, giving it a large supply of sand for hydraulic fracturing (fracking) activities.

All-in finding and development (F&D) costs to produce U.S. natural gas are $4.00-5.00/MMBtu, but with benchmark Henry Hub spot prices hovering at $2.50/MMBtu, exploration and production (E&P) companies are in a tough spot, particularly if they have few hedges in place, no oil component in their portfolio, or are just beginning to transition to oily projects, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) analysts said in a new report.

As another indicator of what sub-$3 natural gas prices can produce, MDU Resources Group Inc. will be selling some of its gas assets this year — albeit small ones — and raising its proportional amount of oil production from its exploration and production (E&P) mix in the Bakken, Niobrara, Heath, Big Horn Basin and other shale plays, senior executives told analysts during the company’s 4Q2011 earnings conference call.

As another indicator of what sub-$3 natural gas prices can produce, MDU Resources Group Inc. will be selling some of its gas assets this year — albeit small ones — and raising its proportional amount of oil production from its exploration and production (E&P) mix in the Bakken, Niobrara, Heath, Big Horn Basin and other shale plays, senior executives told analysts on the company’s 4Q2011 earnings conference call Thursday.

Statistics compiled by the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) tell a tale of booming production in the liquids-rich Eagle Ford Shale, with an increased emphasis on oil and condensate in the play and significantly more flaring of gas statewide.

Continuing cold weather near the East Coast and in Eastern Canada contrasted with milder forecasts for the western two-thirds of the nation to produce mixed price movement Tuesday. A modest majority of locations softened. The restoration of industrial demand following a holiday weekend appeared to have little market impact.

The world shale gas industry has undergone big changes industrywide in just a year’s time and it still faces a “period of great uncertainty and policy challenges,” an energy expert said Tuesday.

In Mexico there is no debate about shale gas having potential, but there is an ongoing discussion in the federal government concerning whether to focus on finding out exactly what that potential might be. A relatively new government body, the National Commission for Hydrocarbons (CNH), is pushing other parts of the federal government to pursue a more diversified energy strategy.

Encana Corp. has launched a plan to sell its 52,000 net acres of property in the Barnett Shale of North Texas, which currently produce 125 MMcfe/d.