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As further indication that the anti-hydraulic fracturing (fracking) fever is spreading in Colorado, a coalition of more than 40 organizations has called for Gov. John Hickenlooper to ask for a top state energy official’s resignation, and a U.S. congressman from the state has picked up the opposition fervor from his constituents and environmental groups.

Federal and state officials concede there was a “miscommunication” between them over plans by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to put more than 4,000 acres of a state forest in Ohio up for oil and gas leasing, and the sale has been put on hold.

Houston-based ZaZa Energy LLC has struck a deal to sell about 10,300 acres in Fayette, Gonzalez and Lavaca counties in Texas for about $28.8 million to a unit of Sanchez Energy after a deal fell through with another buyer that was unable to fund and close a transaction, parent ZaZa Energy Corp. said. ZaZa calls the acreage its Moulton properties. In March, ZaZa announced two pending Moulton sales: one for $43.3 million for 10,000 acres and another for the remainder of its Moulton properties for $9.2 million (see Shale Daily, March 26). “Given the current landscape, we believe that transacting at this metric was the best and most prudent action for the company at this time,” ZaZa CEO Todd Brooks said of the latest deal. “We remain focused on monetizing select Eagle Ford assets in order to improve our balance sheet, and we are currently pursuing other joint ventures in the area. In the Eaglebine, our joint venture is progressing as planned, and we anticipate timely drilling of the first three wells as part of the agreement [see Shale Daily, April 8].” ZaZa has received a down payment of $1.4 million for the Moulton properties; closing of the sale is expected by July 31.

As of Monday, Norway’s Statoil has taken over operatorship of the eastern portion of its Eagle Ford Shale assets that it has held in a 50-50 joint venture (JV) since 2010 with Talisman Energy USA Inc.

Global deepwater drilling activity is going on a rampage, with spending set to more than double over the coming decade, according to Wood Mackenzie.

Global deepwater drilling activity is going on a rampage, with spending set to more than double over the coming decade, according to Wood Mackenzie.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett defended the decision to enact an impact fee, rather than a severance tax, on oil and gas drilling, and he said there was nothing new to report on a proposed ethane cracker in the western part of the state.

FERC has cleared the way for Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. LLC to sell more than 1,300 miles of pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), known as the Supply Area Facilities, to Kinetica Energy Express LLC, allowing the pipeline to exit the offshore business and shift its attention to the onshore shale market.

Aurora Oil & Gas Ltd. has begun drilling activities earlier than expected on its recently acquired Eagle Ford Shale acreage, the Australia-based company said Monday.