Rigs

Because the number of wells drilled in the United States that produce both oil and natural gas has increased sharply since 2007, natural gas production can rise even as the number of rigs characterized as drilling solely for natural gas falls, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Monday.

Because the number of wells drilled in the United States that produce both oil and natural gas has increased sharply since 2007 — helped in large part by technological improvements in the nation’s shale basins — natural gas production can rise even as the number of rigs characterized as drilling solely for natural gas falls, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Monday.

It’s not how many rigs there are in the shale patch; it’s what they’re doing. As drilling productivity continues to climb, the industry has realized a simple rig count is a poor indicator of future production. Now the Energy Information Administration (EIA) is monitoring and reporting on drilling productivity.

The move to horizontal drilling and longer laterals has made the domestic land rig count not so simple anymore, leading Raymond James & Associates Inc. on Monday to launch well and footage count forecasts.

With the exception of some flattening in the overall oil and natural gas rig count this year, a steady increase is forecast through 2015, particularly for horizontals drilled on multi-pad well sites, according to Halliburton Co. COO Jeff Miller.

Antero Resources LLC, now preparing to become a publicly traded explorer, already oversees one of the biggest operations in the Appalachian Basin, and it wants to keep it that way by building a 150-mile-long water sourcing and distribution pipeline that would feed drilling sites across West Virginia and into Ohio.

ConocoPhillips saw its combined production in the Permian Basin, Eagle Ford and Bakken shales nearly double during 2Q2013, and it expects to see future growth from its holdings as it transitions to multi-well pad drilling and experiments with tighter well spacing and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) stages.

Lack of heat and hurricanes, ample supply and capacity constraints were once again working in concert Friday for weekend and Monday natural gas delivery as physical gas price averages across the country continued lower with certain infrastructure-challenged locations in the Northeast coming off by 50 cents to nearly a dollar. September natural gas futures continued to probe lower Friday and ended up dropping 4 cents to close at $3.347, a fresh five-month low for a prompt-month close.

Rosetta Resources Inc. has agreed to pay Comstock Resources Inc. $768 million for a package of Permian Basin oil and liquids-rich assets, giving it entry into the West Texas basin.