Recoverable

Estimates of potential natural gas reserves in the United States stood at a record 3,141 Tcf at the end of 2016, with shale plays accounting for 64% of the total, according to a biennial report conducted by the Potential Gas Committee (PGC).

The United States now holds more recoverable oil reserves than Saudi Arabia and Russia, thanks to the unconventional revolution, according to a three-year global review by Rystad Energy.

The Piceance Basin’s Mancos Shale in Colorado contains an estimated 66 Tcf of natural gas, sharply higher than a 2003 estimate of 1.6 Tcf, becoming the second-largest assessment of potential continuous gas resources ever conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), officials said Wednesday.

Oklahoma City-based Continental Resources Inc., the Bakken’s largest leaseholder, said Monday it has raised its reserves estimates for parts of the Bakken Three Forks area by 57% to 903 billion bbl following completion of an initial test well.

Marcellus Shale ethane is a long way from the Mont Belvieu, TX, market center, making it the most likely supply to be rejected in times of surplus. But Marcellus producer Range Resources Corp. has an alternative — and a contract — to deliver some of its ethane to Philadelphia for sale to a European petrochemical producer.

A legislator in the Maryland House of Delegates announced Wednesday that she plans to introduce a bill next year that would impose a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the state’s portion of the Marcellus Shale until a comprehensive scientific study is completed.

Dallas-based Mesa Energy Holdings Inc. has leased 1,525 net acres in Garfield and Major counties, OK, and has closed on a farmout agreement with Twenty/Twenty Oil & Gas Inc. covering 1,720 net acres that are held by production.

In the wake of last week’s decision by the Argentine government to nationalize YPF SA, Moody’s Investors Service has placed Spain’s Repsol and Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline LLC (M&N) under review for possible downgrades.

Days after visiting natural gas operations in the Marcellus Shale, Poland’s treasury minister said commercial shale gas production may begin in his country in 2014.