Ranks

Whether the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale turns out to be the kind of prospect that ranks among energy industry biggies is still a waiting game, one of the trend’s followers said last week.

Whether the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale turns out to be the kind of prospect that ranks among energy industry biggies is still a waiting game, one of the trend’s followers said Tuesday.

Beginning May 1, ConocoPhillips no longer will be among the ranks of the Big Oil integrated producers. Once Phillips 66, the refining and marketing arm, spins off, the Houston-based company will become the leading pure-play explorer in North America — a position it’s ready to handle, incoming CEO Ryan Lance said last week.

ConocoPhillips will say goodbye to the ranks of Big Oil and move to the top of the North America’s pure-play explorers list at the end of this month, with a U.S. focus on liquids-rich opportunities, the incoming CEO said Monday.

Beginning May 1, ConocoPhillips no longer will be among the ranks of the Big Oil integrated producers. Once Phillips 66, the refining and marketing arm, spins off, the Houston-based company will become the leading pure-play explorer in North America — a position it’s ready to handle, incoming CEO Ryan Lance said Monday.

Poland’s technically recoverable shale gas resources are much lower than projections made last year by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), according to a report issued Wednesday.

Preliminary data released indicates that North Dakota oil and gas production continued to soar in January and the state now ranks third nationally in average daily oil production, surpassing California and following only Texas and Alaska. With the Bakken formation, North Dakota continues to ride the shale boom.

As their country dreams of becoming “the second Norway” of natural gas, scientists in Poland asked themselves whether hydraulic fracturing (fracking) stimulation of shale gas wells is safe for the environment. The answer: yes, if done according to “legal regulations.”

Frisco, TX-based Comstock Resources Inc. has joined the ranks of producers that are pulling back from natural gas drilling to direct more resources to oil.