Running

Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s Eagle Ford Shale leasehold, now is the top producer within the company, delivering year/year growth in 4Q2012 of 266% and sequential growth of 20%, the independent reported Thursday. Net production in the South Texas play averaged 62,500 boe/d, with 66% of it oil, while 19% was natural gas and 15% liquids.

Opponents of TransCanada Corp.’s proposed northern portion of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada running through parts of Nebraska argued last Thursday in state district court in Lancaster County that Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman lacked the authority to approve a proposed route for the project. In January, he approved a new alternative route (see Shale Daily, Jan. 23). Opponents of the project want Heineman’s decision voided by a district court judge because they allege a state pipeline siting act passed last year by Nebraska’s legislature is unconstitutional. The legislation gave the governor the ultimate decision on the route. At the end of last year Lancaster County District Judge Stephanie Stacy rejected the state’s attempt to have the lawsuit dismissed.

Louisiana’s economic output will grow by $30 billion between 2011 and 2019 as a result of natural gas-induced investment, according to a report by Louisiana State University’s Center for Energy Studies that details the impact of the natural gas boom on the state.

Houston-based Sanchez Energy Corp., which has a 95,000-net acre position targeting the liquids-rich Eagle Ford Shale, Pearsall Shale, Austin Chalk and Buda Limestone, said its estimated current net production is 4,400 boe/d, of which 84% was oil. This rate represents a 159% increase over the third quarter net production exit rate of 1,700 boe/d (see Shale Daily, Oct. 30). “We continue to see strong well performance across our three focus areas as we execute on the remainder of this year’s development plan,” said CEO Tony Sanchez. “Additionally, we are testing tighter spacing in each of our positions in the Eagle Ford trend and, more specifically, one of the rigs in our Palmetto area is drilling the first of a five-well, 40-acre spacing pilot on the southern part of the Barnhart Ranch.” The company is running two rigs in the Palmetto area, one rig in the Maverick area, and two rigs in the Marquis area.

Baker Hughes Inc. is reporting positive results from a program to convert a fleet of its North American hydraulic fracturing (fracking) units to bifuel pumps that use a mix of natural gas and diesel, the oilfield services operator said Monday.

Clean Energy Fuels Corp. and the state of Virginia have signed an agreement to expand the infrastructure and vehicles running on compressed natural gas (CNG) as part of a wider alternative fuel initiation for state/local government fleets. Separately, Blossman Gas would help convert vehicles and supply propane and related transportation services.

Supply chain solutions company Savage has completed a terminal near Trenton, ND, with direct connection to BNSF Railway’s main line track, to gather crude oil from the Williston Basin and Bakken Shale and facilitate its transport to refinery markets.

In an effort to get exploration and production in the Point Thomson Field on the North Slope in Alaska off and running after years of permitting delays, Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell earlier this month reached out to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to exercise his authority to expedite the Record of Decision (ROD) on the project, citing the risk to Alaskan and American jobs if delays continue.

In an effort to get exploration and production in the Point Thomson Field on the North Slope in Alaska off and running after years of permitting delays, Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell this past weekend reached out to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to exercise his authority to expedite the Record of Decision (ROD) on the project, citing the risk to Alaskan and American jobs if delays continue.