production

In its efforts to maximize the opportunities provided by the domestic shale oil and gas boom, Houston-based Phillips 66 said it plans to develop a 100,000 b/d natural gas liquids (NGL) fractionator in Old Ocean, TX, which would provide an alternative for suppliers wary of congestion at facilities located in and around Mont Belvieu, TX.

Mexico’s Petroleos Mexicanos’ (Pemex) exploration and production (E&P) unit has awarded contracts with a total value of more than $350 million to Empeiria Acquisition Corp. and subsidiary Integrated Drilling Equipment Co. Holdings (IDE) to build four 3000HP AC modular platform rigs, Houston-based Empeiria said Monday.

Following a second vote by the City of Dallas Plan Commission to deny Trinity East Energy LLC permission for three drill sites within the city limits, Trinity East Energy LLC said it will seek to persuade a super-majority of the 15-member Dallas City Council to grant the permits.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM)’s Buffalo Field Office in Wyoming has approved Anadarko Petroleum Corp.’s Crazy Cat East oil and natural gas drilling project about 40 miles south of Buffalo in North Central Wyoming.

Elliott Associates LP, a hedge fund that owns a 4% stake in Hess Corp., is urging other shareholders to elect its five nominees to the company’s board of directors and has called on Hess to spin off its assets in the Bakken, Eagle Ford and Utica shale plays.

Gulfport Energy Corp. Tuesday reported production results for two more Utica Shale wells and said it plans to have natural gas and liquids flowing to pipelines this spring.

Enbridge Energy Partners LP’s North Dakota crude oil pipeline system has been underutilized since November due to increasing competition from rail and other pipeline transport options, refiner Flint Hills Resources LP, a unit of Koch Industries Inc., told FERC in a filing.

Comstock Resources Inc. announced Monday that it plans to spend about $420 million on exploration and development activities in 2013, with a drilling program focused on its oil-weighted holdings in South and West Texas — in the Eagle Ford Shale and Wolfbone and Wolfcamp formations in the Permian Basin, respectively.

Noble Energy Inc. is considering a move to larger offices in the Marcellus Shale to accommodate its growing presence in the play.