Reserves

The petrochemical industry in the United States is poised for a “spectacular comeback,” thanks to an abundant supply of feedstock from shale reserves, industry analysts with GlobalData said Monday.

Triangle Petroleum Corp. recorded the first profitable quarter in its history, is on track to meet its oil production goal for the year and is excited about its new joint venture (JV) in the Bakken Shale, even as it keeps at the ready plans to drop a drilling rig should policymakers in Washington, DC, fail to reach a compromise over the fiscal cliff.

Even though crude oil production in Texas continues to increase, drilling activity for future reserves has slowed because of weakness in natural gas prices and instability in crude oil markets, according to the latest Texas Petro Index (TPI).

WPX Energy Inc. announced a net loss of $64 million for 3Q2012 on Thursday, but it also reported significant growth in oil production in the Bakken Shale and tripled natural gas production in the Marcellus.

Even though crude oil production in Texas continues to increase, drilling activity for future reserves has slowed because of weakness in natural gas prices and instability in crude oil markets, according to the latest Texas Petro Index (TPI).

Rapid development of the Marcellus Shale is attracting new exploration and production (E&P) activity, a trend that is affecting long-standing national and regional gas flows, as well as regional pricing, according to a new report from Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P).

Surging shale oil reserves in the United States led BP plc to apparently secure permission, and Royal Dutch Shell plc to apply, for export licenses to ship U.S. crude oil supplies to Canada and possibly elsewhere.

It’s too early in the game to know if the productivity power of the Utica/Point Pleasant Shale in Ohio and western Pennsylvania will match other U.S. unconventional plays, but initial natural gas well data is encouraging, and if the oil-prone window is successfully derisked, the play could prove to be a triple-play hydrocarbon monster, according to IHS Inc. researchers.

Houston-based Sanchez Energy Corp., which holds a 95,000 net acre position in the liquids-rich Eagle Ford Shale, highlighted the performance of recent wells and said they “demonstrate the progress made in substantially derisking the majority of the company’s acreage position in the Eagle Ford Shale trend.”