Running

Natural Gas rigs continued to mostly sit out the return to activity as the most recent week of Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI) data showed a robust increase in the number of active oil rigs.

The U.S. land rig count continued working lower in the latest tally from Baker Hughes Inc., released on Friday. It’s on its way to a trough of 375-400, according to one firm tracking the action.

When Wile E. Coyote falls off a cliff, he hits a branch or two on the way down. The U.S. rig count did that last week, but now it’s plummeting again, according to Baker Hughes Inc.

On Friday Baker Hughes Inc. said the U.S. rig count had fallen 12 to land at 775, just 40% of its year-ago level.

EQT Midstream Partners LP agreed to pay up to $650 million for Appalachian-focused Sunrise Partners LP and a new transportation agreement, the company said Monday.

Dave Hager, 56, who has been running Devon Energy Corp.’s exploration and production (E&P) program since 2009, has been promoted to COO, giving him responsibility for all operating areas and related corporate functions. Hager had been COO of Kerr-McGee Corp. prior to its 2006 merger with Anadarko Petroleum Corp. Tony Vaughn, 55, will move into Hager’s former job as executive vice president of E&P. Vaughn has been senior vice president, exploration and strategic services. He joined Devon in 1999 after spending 12 years with Kerr-McGee.

WPX Energy Inc. plans to deploy two more drilling rigs to the five now running in Western Colorado’s Piceance Basin, which should add an incremental 1.9 Bcfe in natural gas-weighted output through the rest of this year, the Tulsa operator said last week.

WPX Energy Inc. plans to deploy two more drilling rigs to the five now running in Western Colorado’s Piceance Basin, which should add an incremental 1.9 Bcfe in natural gas-weighted output through the rest of this year, the Tulsa operator said Wednesday.

Utility developers planning combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) projects in the Marcellus and Utica shales are looking for a “power price appreciation” from excess natural gas, not growing demand, to ensure a fair return on their investments, according to an analysis by Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. Inc. (TPH).