Seismic

While earlier research in Texas’ Barnett Shale linked drilling waste injection into underground storage wells with increased seismic activity, new work in the Eagle Ford by the same geologist suggests that drawing liquids out of the ground can induce earthquakes there.

Spectra Energy Corp. is taking a one-third interest in the Sand Hills and Southern Hills pipelines, both of which are under construction by DCP Midstream LLC, a joint venture of Spectra and Phillips 66. The deal is expected to close by the end of November when Spectra, Phillips 66 and DCP Midstream each would own one-third of the pipelines and equally fund their completion. The aggregate investment by Spectra is expected to be $700-800 million. Sand Hills, which would take natural gas liquids from the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford Shale to Gulf Coast markets, would have an initial capacity of 200,000 b/d and be expandable to 350,000 b/d. The first phase recently came online and connection to Mont Belvieu, TX, is expected by year-end (see Shale Daily, Oct. 29). The timing of Sand Hills’ second phase, the Permian portion of the pipeline, has advanced and is due to be in service in 2Q2013. Southern Hills would provide 150,000 b/d, expandable to 175,000 b/d, of capacity from the Midcontinent to Mont Belvieu and has a targeted in-service date of mid-2013.

Test well results and micro-seismic analysis have identified more than 200 drilling locations in the Mondak in the Upper Bakken Shale, according to initial drilling results released Thursday by Calgary, Alberta-based PetroShale.

Shale and other unconventional resource plays are getting their own information clearinghouse at the University at Buffalo (UB) College of Arts and Sciences geology department

Calgary independent Paramount Resources Ltd., better known for its natural gas exploration, saw its stock price jump by nearly 5% in midday trading Monday after the company said it was creating a subsidiary to house its growing oilsands and bitumen businesses.

Following two home explosions in a rural area of northwest Pennsylvania within three months of each other, Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) Monday called for federal help to protect the public from risks associated with the development of shale gas in the Marcellus and Utica plays.

A hearing at the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission (AOGC) to consider whether two saltwater injection wells in the Fayetteville Shale are related to seismic activity in the region has been postponed to April 26 from March 29 at the request of the injection well owners, Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Operating Inc. and Little Rock, AR-based Clarita Operating LLC. The wells are currently shut in and will remain so until at least the date of the hearing and maybe longer depending on what is decided at the AOGC. Both companies maintain that their wells are not related to a recent swarm of earthquakes in the area; however, since the wells were shut in, quake activity has declined somewhat (see Shale Daily, March 17).

Calgary-based producer MGM Energy Corp. has struck an agreement with Chevron Canada Ltd. and BP Canada to restructure a farmout agreement, allowing it to delay drilling and seismic activity due to repeated holdups in progress on the Mackenzie Gas Project, MGM said last Tuesday.

Calgary-based producer MGM Energy Corp. has struck an agreement with Chevron Canada Ltd. and BP Canada to restructure a farmout agreement, allowing it to delay drilling and seismic activity due to repeated holdups in progress on the Mackenzie Gas Project, MGM said Tuesday.