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The United States likely will add 11 Bcf/d of natural gas to its reserves this year at total finding, development and completion costs under $3.00/Mcf, while a review of 45,000 unconventional oil wells is finding “tremendous” growth in oil reserves, preliminary IHS Inc. data indicate.

The latest records year-to-date at Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (WOGCC) underscore reports from the industry players that drilling activity is on the upswing in the Powder River Niobrara, interim WOGCC Director Bob King told NGI’s Shale Daily on Wednesday.

The United States likely will add 11 Bcf/d of natural gas to its reserves this year at total finding, development and completion costs under $3.00/Mcf, while a review of 45,000 unconventional oil wells is finding “tremendous” growth in oil reserves, preliminary IHS Inc. data indicate.

Forecasters at Colorado State University (CSU) expect a total of 14 named storms in the Atlantic Basin this year, including six hurricanes, two of them major (Category 3 or higher), a slight increase from activity they predicted at the beginning of the 2012 hurricane season (see Daily GPI, June 4) and about the same numbers experienced in a typical season over the past six decades.

Williams Partners LP said shipper interest supports a portion of Transcontinental Gas Pipeline’s (Transco) Atlantic Access project: expansion of the Leidy Line in northern Pennsylvania by up to 800,000 Dth/d by late 2015. However, the remainder of the previously announced Atlantic Access project will have to wait.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has reduced its natural gas-operated rig count in the Marcellus Shale and in the Greater Natural Buttes of Utah to put more mechanical muscle into the oily Wattenberg field of Colorado, which is delivering the highest rates of return (ROR) in the U.S. onshore portfolio, said CEO Al Walker.

Infrastructure constraints during the second quarter put a crimp in SM Energy Co.’s operated Eagle Ford Shale output, prompting the Denver-based company to divert some capital to the Permian Basin, where getting production to market is easier for the time being. And a steep drop in net income pummeled the Denver-based producer’s shares.

The effort to put a natural gas severance tax hike before Arkansas voters has been suspended as backers came up short on the number of signatures necessary to put the issue on the November ballot (see Shale Daily, July 10; June 29). Tax hike proponent Sheffield Nelson told local news media he would make a final decision on whether to abandon the effort within a week. The campaign is short about 40,000 signatures after many were disqualifed. The campaign would need to make up the shortfall by Aug. 20 and deliver at least 62,507 valid signatures in total.

FERC Thursday issued two orders that will allow Questar Pipeline Co. and Chipeta Processing LLC to modify their facilities to provide producers in the Uinta Basin with greater transportation and cryogenic processing capability for liquids-rich natural gas.