Texas

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has installed a new air monitor in Flower Mound, TX, in southern Denton County to track the effects of Barnett Shale gas patch activity.

Texas-based Peterbilt Motors Co., a major North American maker of trucks used in long-haul transportation fleets, said it is selling 180 liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fueled trucks to Canadian-based trucking company Robert Transport in Quebec. A Peterbilt spokesperson told NGI Tuesday that the company is pursuing a national market of LNG-fueled rigs.

As producers continue to seek natural gas liquids- (NGL) charged returns, the focus on the wet areas of the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas grows. Meanwhile, dry gas holdings in the Haynesville Shale of North Louisiana are becoming a little less dear, at least for now.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) has acquired certain oil and gas assets in southeast Texas in two related deals valued at a combined $40 million, the firm said. The assets are largely comprised of long-lived natural gas wells producing out of the Wilcox formation. The acquisitions are the first by KKR Natural Resources, KKR’s partnership with Premier Natural Resources, which was formed earlier this year to pursue oil and gas investments in North America.

An official with a major New York-based environmental advocacy group said he supports the practice of hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) in the production of shale gas, and believes it can be done safely, despite what critics claim.

RPM Energy LLC and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) have formed RPM Energy Partners LP to target joint venture opportunities with exploration and production companies in unconventional plays. They offer RPM’s expertise and KKR’s deep pockets.

Houston-based Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., whose onshore operations are focused on three shale plays — the Marcellus, Eagle Ford and Haynesville/Bossier — said Tuesday it smashed quarterly production records in 3Q2010, with output hitting 36 Bcfe, which was a 41% jump year/year. Sequential production also rose 18%, exceeding guidance targets.

Companies that missed out on the first round of leasing in the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas that began in 2008 will have another chance as some of those leases will be expiring in the coming months, an industry analyst said recently.

Companies that missed out on the first round of leasing in the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas that began in 2008 will have another chance as some of those leases will be expiring in the coming months, an industry analyst said recently.