Reduce

Halcon Resources Corp., run by the former chief of shale powerhouse Petrohawk Energy Corp., and GeoResources Inc. have agreed to merge in a cash-and-stock transaction worth an estimated $1 billion. The combined company would have an onshore portfolio of opportunities across the Midcontinent, with a core area in the Bakken Shale.

“Profitable and widely applicable” practices have the potential to reduce methane emissions in the United States by more than 80%, and the captured methane could “bring in billions of dollars in revenue while benefiting the environment,” according to a report from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is consolidating three of its wastewater permits to encourage liquid waste recycling from oil and natural gas drilling, and to reduce water withdrawals.

Shares of debt-burdened Quicksilver Resources Inc. fell Monday after the company reported lower profits and said production would be flat this year. Meanwhile, efforts on two joint venture deals continue, as the company targets more liquids-rich production, executives told financial analysts.

Following in the footsteps of other major Marcellus Shale operators, Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. plans to reduce capital spending by about $100 million this year in response to low natural gas prices.

ConocoPhillips revealed Wednesday that in the last three months of 2011 it acquired more than 100,000 acres in North American liquids-rich shale plays, bringing its unconventional acquisitions last year to more than 500,000 acres.

Crude oil production in the United States and Canada will grow by 3.1 million b/d, or about 38%, over the next five years thanks to technologies and development practices honed in the U.S. shale gas patch, according to a new analysis by Bentek Energy LLC. The United States alone will grow oil production by 2.2 million b/d, most of it light or intermediate grades, the firm said.

Nexen Inc. last week secured two joint ventures (JV) in two separate transactions, both with Asian companies, that promise to give the Calgary-based independent a solid footing to expand development in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) as well as British Columbia (BC).

Tulsa-based Williams continues to be primed for solid natural gas infrastructure expansions in North America, with the biggest still planned for the Marcellus Shale, CEO Alan Armstrong said Wednesday.