Proved

Booming shale plays in the United States have proved to be more than transformational domestically, according to Jeff Welch, head of North American Gas for EDF Trading North America — they are having “mind-boggling” implications worldwide.

Matador Resources Co., which is focused on the liquids-rich portion of the Eagle Ford Shale, grew its oil production almost eight-fold last year to just over 1.2 million bbl from 154,000 bbl in 2011 and 33,000 bbl in 2010. The company will stay focused on the Eagle Ford and growing its Permian Basin position as gas prices aren’t high enough to support more Haynesville Shale activity, CEO Joe Foran said Thursday.

ExxonMobil Corp.’s profits climbed 6% year/year in 4Q2012, with annual earnings jumping 9%, despite a steep fall-off in global natural gas and oil production, the supermajor reported on Friday. Until natural gas prices are revived, the producer will direct most of North American unconventional spending on liquids and oil, the investor relations chief said Friday.

Last year proved challenging for the North American oilfield sector, as operators moved rigs from natural gas to more lucrative liquids targets and an overcapacity in pressure pumping continued to impact margins. This year won’t be much better, Halliburton Co.’s management team said Friday.

Last year proved challenging for the North American oilfield sector, as operators moved rigs from natural gas to more lucrative liquids targets and an overcapacity in pressure pumping continued to impact margins. This year won’t be much better, Halliburton Co.’s management team said Friday.

Triangle Petroleum Corp. recorded the first profitable quarter in its history, is on track to meet its oil production goal for the year and is excited about its new joint venture (JV) in the Bakken Shale, even as it keeps at the ready plans to drop a drilling rig should policymakers in Washington, DC, fail to reach a compromise over the fiscal cliff.

Houston-based Sanchez Energy Corp., which holds a 95,000 net acre position in the liquids-rich Eagle Ford Shale, highlighted the performance of recent wells and said they “demonstrate the progress made in substantially derisking the majority of the company’s acreage position in the Eagle Ford Shale trend.”

The supervisor of Ohio’s Wayne National Forest (WNF) on Monday said an in-depth study has proved that there is no need to amend the forest’s six-year-old land and resource management plan nor to supplement the environmental impact statement (EIS) to address possible surface impacts from unconventional drilling.

A bet to procure a big reserve of guar gum, an additive used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) fluid, proved to be a costly mistake in the second quarter, Halliburton Co. CEO Dave Lesar told energy analysts on Monday.