Sights

Houston-based Contango Oil & Gas Co., which up to now has trained its sights on Gulf Coast locations, on Monday joined with some financial partners to ante up to $380 million in a key Encana Corp. resource play, the Jonah field, one of the largest natural gas fields in the United States and the third largest oilfield in Wyoming.

With the spinoff of its exploration arm now complete, a transformed Williams has its sights set on new business and major infrastructure expansion projects both onshore and offshore in North America, CEO Alan Armstrong said last week.

With the spinoff of its exploration arm now complete, a transformed Williams has its sights set on new business and major infrastructure expansion projects both onshore and offshore in North America, CEO Alan Armstrong said Thursday.

Marathon Oil Corp., which began 2012 as a pure-play exploration and production (E&P) company, has its sights trained on two big shale plays in the United States: the Eagle Ford and the Bakken, company officials said Wednesday.

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.

There were no blizzards or major heat waves in the near-term sights of the weather radar, but spot prices managed to rebound by large amounts across the board Tuesday from the depths to which they had sunk on Friday. They did have support from both Friday’s 22-cent futures gain (which broke a string of downward sessions) and the return of industrial load from the extra losses it incurs on a holiday weekend.

Setting its sights on improving natural gas and electric service reliability, field productivity and system performance, as well as investments to improve energy efficiency at several company facilities, Exelon Corp.’s Pennsylvania natural gas and electric utility, PECO, said it will fund its operations with roughly $400 million this year for infrastructure improvements and new facilities.

Stone Energy Corp., which was on the losing end of two merger attempts in 2006, has trained its sights on acquiring Houston-based Bois d’Arc Energy Inc. in a transaction estimated at $1.8 billion. The combination would give Stone a solid Gulf of Mexico (GOM) exploration portfolio 55% weighted to natural gas, around 300 MMcfe/d in production, 700 Bcfe-plus of estimated proved reserves and 275 Bcfe of estimated probable reserves.

Stone Energy Corp., which was on the losing end of two merger attempts in 2006, has trained its sights on acquiring Houston-based Bois d’Arc Energy Inc. in a transaction estimated at $1.8 billion. The combination would give Stone a solid Gulf of Mexico (GOM) exploration portfolio 55% weighted to natural gas, around 300 MMcfe/d in production, 700 Bcfe-plus of estimated proved reserves and 275 Bcfe of estimated probable reserves.