Range Resources Corp. won permission from a Texas appeals court to proceed with a defamation lawsuit seeking $3 million in damages from a man who accused the company of tainting his drinking water with drilling activities in the Barnett Shale (see Shale Daily, April 4). Two of the company’s claims against Steven Lipsky were allowed to stand by the Second Court of Appeals in Fort Worth. However, it ordered the trial court in Weatherford, TX, to dismiss Range’s claims against Lipsky’s wife, Shyla, and environmental consultant Alisa Rich, who was hired to assist in the lawsuit. The plaintiffs have claimed that Range tainted the Lipsky water well, but the Railroad Commission of Texas found otherwise after it investigated. While the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also had blamed Range for contaminating the well, the agency later backed down (see Shale Daily, Feb. 13; Feb. 21, 2012).
Pumped
Articles from Pumped
Baker: Fewer Emissions, Less Fuel Needed for Bifuel Fracking Units
Baker Hughes Inc. is reporting positive results from a program to convert a fleet of its North American hydraulic fracturing (fracking) units to bifuel pumps that use a mix of natural gas and diesel, the oilfield services operator said Monday.
California Rig Count Hits 22-Year High
Generally rising crude oil prices pumped up the drilling rig count (53) in California to a 22-year high in July, and a lot of the action is in “urban plays,” previously dormant or downplayed fields from the state’s rich history of oil and natural gas production that are suddenly stirring new drilling.
El Paso’s Proved Reserves Jump 18%
El Paso Corp. pumped up its production in 2007 and built its total natural gas-weighted proved reserves base to 3.1 Tcfe, the company said Wednesday.
Economic, Gas Development Taxing North Texas Aquifer
No one likes a dry hole, whether it was drilled for oil, gas or water. Some residents of Parker County, TX, say their water wells are running dry because of all the water that’s being pumped from their aquifer to produce natural gas from the Barnett Shale. However, the region also has experienced a great deal of urban development, and that, too, drains the aquifer as more residents and businesses tap the water supply. And there’s also been a drought.
North-Central Texas Residents Wonder Where the Water is Going
No one likes a dry hole, whether it was drilled for oil, gas or water. Some residents of Parker County, TX, say their water wells are running dry because of all the water that’s being pumped from their aquifer to produce natural gas from the Barnett Shale. However, the region also has experienced a great deal of urban development, and that, too, drains the aquifer as more residents and businesses tap the water supply. And there’s also been a drought.
NGI The Weekly Gas Market Report
Kerr-McGee Hikes Spending, Sees Output Growing 7-12% through ’08
Kerr-McGee Corp. last week pumped up its 2006 capital program by $170 million to accelerate drilling onshore in the United States, which in turn is expected to boost estimated oil and natural gas production by 7-12% through 2008. About $50 million will be used to expand infrastructure in the Uinta Basin, including construction of a 250 MMcf/d gas processing plant, which could be expanded to 500 MMcf/d.
Kerr-McGee Hikes Spending, Sees Production Growth of 7-12% through ’08
Kerr-McGee Corp. on Tuesday pumped up its capital program by $170 million to accelerate drilling onshore in the United States, which in turn is expected to boost estimated oil and natural gas production by 7-12% through 2008. About $50 million will be used to expand infrastructure in the Uinta Basin, including construction of a 250 MMcf/d gas processing plant, which could be expanded to 500 MMcf/d.
Newfield Picks Up Gas-Heavy EEX in $640M Deal
Houston-based Newfield Exploration Co. has pumped up its core South Texas natural gas assets and more important, moved into the deepwater of the Gulf of Mexico, with the acquisition of cross-town peer EEX Corp. The transaction is valued at $640 million, including debt, and has already been approved by both boards of directors. Newfield, already dominant along the Outer Continental Shelf, gained its first foothold in deeper water, picking up 68 lease blocks, most of which EEX was exploring with Shell Oil Co.
Hearing on Western’s Pipe Plan
Some 11th-hour life has been pumped back into a proposal forallowing gas distribution competition in an industrialized part ofthe East San Francisco Bay. Two members of the five-memberCalifornia Public Utilities Commission have proposed an alternativeto the Western Gas Resources pipeline proposal, which would servecustomers inside Pacific Gas & Electric’s franchise territory.The CPUC is scheduled to take up competing approaches when it meetsNov. 4 in San Francisco.
