Sanish

Although drilling activity in the Marcellus Shale has slowed and some producers have dropped rigs, there is enough of a drilling backlog that, if wells were brought online over a one-year period, production would continue to grow but at a slower pace, energy analysts with Barclays Capital said.

Marathon Oil Corp. production targets are being raised sharply for its growing plays in the Eagle Ford and Bakken Shales, while the targeted sale of assets continues, as evidenced by a $170 million sale of a gas processing interest in Louisiana, CEO Clarence Cazalot said during a 4Q2012 conference call with financial analysts.

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.

Crude oil production from the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas has overtaken gas production, which is increasing the shale’s profitability, a recent analysis of the play has found.

Magnum Hunter Resources Corp. posted a 51% increase in estimated total proved reserves as of June 30 compared to the year-ago period, the shale-focused producer said.

Continental Resources Inc. has successfully completed its second natural gas well in the Anadarko Woodford play, while the company’s production total continued to rise during 4Q2011.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said that although natural gas production in North Dakota has more than doubled since 2005, so far more than 35% of that production for 2011 has been flared or otherwise not marketed because of insufficient infrastructure in the Bakken Shale.

Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp. has agreed to purchase approximately 50,000 net leasehold acres in the Bakken Shale play from an undisclosed private oil and gas company for $540 million in cash and $50 million in stock, and agreed to assume the terms of a drilling rig contract.

Oil and gas companies operating in North Dakota’s portion of the Bakken Shale are spending about $3 billion on infrastructure projects to capture natural gas currently being lost to flaring at oil drilling sites.