A Texas state lawmaker has filed a bill that would “update” the Lone Star State’s unitization procedures — what some call forced pooling — and bring them in line with those in other top oil-producing states.
Rights
Articles from Rights
Canadian Natural Resources, PrairieSky Royalty Pool Western Drilling Rights
A 14.7-million-acre (23,000-square-mile) spread of legacy oil and natural gas properties formed Monday when Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNRL) and PrairieSky Royalty Ltd. agreed to pool their private drilling rights in Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia.
California Giving Away Water It Doesn’t Have, Researchers Say
California’s state-run water rights allocation system has given away five times more in volumes than the average annual surface water supplies available through natural runoff, according to California researchers.

Montana Starts Temporary Water Leases to Address Oil, Gas Needs
With the advent of increased drilling on Montana’s portion of the Bakken Shale play and more importantly other wildcatting areas of the state, a new state program for temporary leasing of water rights has kicked off, anticipating added demand for water supplies to support hydraulic fracturing (fracking).
Chesapeake Drops Some Leasing Rights in Southern Tier
The drilling rights to an estimated 13,000 acres in New York’s Southern Tier will be released and litigation dropped as part of a major settlement reached Monday by Chesapeake Energy Corp. and about 200 landowners.
‘Unprecedented’ NatGas Output Cuts U.S. Imports
With domestic natural gas production reaching an “unprecedented” level, net imports of gas into the United States in 2012 fell 23% while total gas exports increased about 8%, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Spot Prices in 2013 Return to ’09-’11 Levels, Says EIA
Spot prices for U.S. natural gas at most major trading points increased on average 40-60% in the first half of 2013 (1H2013) from a year earlier as demand eclipsed supply, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported last week.
Marcellus/Utica De-Bottlenecking on Horizon, Barclays Says
The opening of the Mariner West I ethane pipeline and new processing plants should provide some relief to current wet gas constraints in the Marcellus and Utica shales, and the plays should be largely de-bottlenecked by the end of next year, according to analysts at Barclays.
Gas Storage Capacity Grew by 2%, EIA Says
The capacity of underground natural gas storage facilities increased by about 2% from November 2011 to November 2012, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a new report. The increase was seen in both demonstrated maximum and design capacities.
Oneok Spinning Off Gas Distribution Business
Oneok Inc. plans to spin off its natural gas distribution business to create ONE Gas Inc., which would be one of the largest gas utilities in the United States with more than two million customers in three states and the only publicly traded, 100% regulated, pure-play gas distribution utility.