Reports

The latest records year-to-date at Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (WOGCC) underscore reports from the industry players that drilling activity is on the upswing in the Powder River Niobrara, interim WOGCC Director Bob King told NGI’s Shale Daily on Wednesday.

After a second quarter of strong production growth in the Bakken Shale and Anadarko Woodford, Oklahoma City-based Continental Resources Inc. said it is ahead of schedule on its five-year plan to triple production.

Officials with Whiting Petroleum Corp. said the company is poised to meet its production guidance for the year, with increased drilling in emerging shale plays and a slight increase in capital expenditures (capex).

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. was placed on the defensive last week by reports that suggested that as recently as four years ago the combination utility was encouraging workers to defer natural gas pipeline leak repairs. The combination utility responded and said it took exception to the allegations, which date back to 2008.

After hundreds of years of being the dominant source for electrical power generation, separate reports by the commodity analysts and the media say the coal industry faces an uncertain future as natural gas prices remain low and utilities build new power plants fueled by natural gas.

After hundreds of years of being the dominant source for electrical power generation, separate reports by the commodity analysts and the media say the coal industry faces an uncertain future as natural gas prices remain low and utilities build new power plants fueled by natural gas.

One of the newer, smaller wildfires raging in Colorado sparked concerns Thursday about natural gas exploration and production (E&P) activities along the Western Slope in the Piceance Basin, but industry sources said there was no cause for alarm among citizens or fire-fighting officials. Any dangers are minimal because facilities can be shut in with the push of a button, an oil and gas official said.

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.

U.S. Silica Holdings Inc. and BNSF Railway Co. are partnering to meet the needs of Eagle Ford Shale producers for sand to be used as proppant in their hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations.