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The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) said it had reviewed air quality test results in the Barnett Shale that found trace amounts of a chemical compound once used widely as a pesticide, but said there is no danger to the public health and the chemical is unlikely to have come from oil and gas activities.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is investigating the source of methane found in some water wells and a nearby stream in Lycoming County, DEP said Friday.

Natural gas production in the Lower 48 states recovered in March from the weather-induced decrease seen in the previous month (see NGI, May 9), increasing 3.8% (2.49 Bcf/d) to 68 Bcf/d from 65.51 Bcf/d in February, according to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) monthly natural gas report.

Production in the Lower 48 states recovered in March from the weather-induced decrease seen in the previous month (see Daily GPI, May 4), increasing 3.8% (2.49 Bcf/d) to 68 Bcf/d from 65.51 Bcf/d in February, according to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) monthly natural gas report.

Louisiana parishes overlying the Haynesville Shale “are awash in money;” others, not so much, an economist told NGI’s Shale Daily. As producers set their sights on more lucrative shale plays — the Marcellus and Eagle Ford, for instance — beneficiaries of the North Louisiana shale boom would be wise not to build the shale revenue into their budgets, he said.

June natural gas futures rose in light trading Monday as traders reacted to forecasts of warmer weather but at the same time are seen as moderating their market exposure. At the close June futures had gained 11.6 cents to $4.346 and July was up 10.3 cents to $4.393. July crude oil sank $2.40 to $97.70/bbl.

The administration of Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett continues to roll back natural gas development regulations put in place by its predecessor.

Natural gas production in Louisiana last year hit a level not seen since 1980, according to state records. In 2010 the state produced nearly 2.06 Tcf, which is nudging up against the 2.67 Tcf produced 21 years ago. The state’s figures include wet gas after lease separation and exclude production from the Outer Continental Shelf. The Haynesville Shale area was credited for the rise in production — although Bill Delmar, assistant director of technology assessment for the state’s Department of Natural Resources, said it could not yet be determined how much of the production was from the Haynesville play proper. “The data just doesn’t split out that way for us; we’re in the process of trying to do that right now,” he told NGI’s Shale Daily. However, he said, “We could speculate that it was coming from the Haynesville Shale.”

Natural gas production in Louisiana last year hit a level not seen since 1980, according to state records. In 2010 the state produced nearly 2.06 Tcf, which is nudging up against the 2.67 Tcf produced 21 years ago.