Tracking

While both oil and gas production rates in the Bakken Shale set records in February, there’s much more to come. With a large increase in multi-well pad operations, North Dakota’s chief oil and natural gas regulator expects to see “a big surge in production” in the Bakken Shale starting in June.

A sidelight of North Dakota’s oil/natural gas boom that predates the shale plays by decades is the widespread natural occurrence of shallow-lying gas mixing with groundwater. The state’s Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) conducts an ongoing study that has identified gas in groundwater in 52 of the state’s 53 counties.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar Tuesday said the department is weighing how it will move forward with a policy requiring producers to disclose the fluids associated with hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on public lands. Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) oversees 250 million acres, which contains 11% of the nation’s natural gas supply.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp.’s sales volumes of natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGL) and oil jumped 6% in the second quarter from a year ago and are tracking to be as much as 7% higher than in 2009, boosted by strong production gains in the Marcellus, Eagle Ford and Haynesville shales, the company said last week.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has agreed to restrict fast tracking natural gas and oil drilling applications on federal lands under a settlement agreement concerning Utah’s historic Nine Mile Canyon.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has agreed to restrict fast tracking natural gas and oil drilling applications on federal lands under a settlement agreement concerning Utah’s historic Nine Mile Canyon.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has agreed to restrict fast tracking natural gas and oil drilling applications on federal lands under a settlement agreement concerning Utah’s historic Nine Mile Canyon.

While the Interior Department is “fast-tracking” renewable energy projects, many of which are financed by the oil and natural gas industry, it has blinders on when it comes to promoting domestic oil and gas production, the American Petroleum Institute (API) said last Wednesday.

While the Interior Department is “fast-tracking” renewable energy projects, many of which are financed by the oil and natural gas industry, it has blinders on when it comes to promoting oil and gas production, the American Petroleum Institute (API) said Wednesday.