Trend

Rapid development of the Marcellus Shale is attracting new exploration and production (E&P) activity, a trend that is affecting long-standing national and regional gas flows, as well as regional pricing, according to a new report from Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P).

Lower 48 onshore oil and gas reserves are a huge energy pond, about 1.1 Qcfe worth, and the Marcellus Shale is its biggest fish. According to new research from Calgary-based ITG Investment Research, “the Marcellus dwarfs any other resource at 330 Tcfe, followed by the Eagle Ford and Bakken [shales] at 152 Tcfe (25 billion boe) and 72 Tcfe (12 billion boe), respectively.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. is selling legacy properties in the Cana Woodford Shale, including the rights to 298 producing wells, “because it does not have the drilling budget to adequately develop the abundant additional opportunities in the area,” according to a sales listing. Ninety-eight percent of the leases are held by production.

The Department of Energy (DOE) on Friday said it will invest $5.6 million in more than a dozen research projects to increase understanding of the potential of methane hydrates as an energy source.

Crestwood Midstream Partners Monday said it has completed the acquisition of gathering and processing assets from subsidiaries of Devon Energy Corp. for $87.1 million, which is $2.9 million less than the originally reported acquisition price (see Shale Daily, July 25).

Summer will end with cooler-than-normal temperatures dominating the East, a trend that is expected to carry over through October, but high temperatures will keep their grip on the central United States, according to forecasters at Andover, MA-based Weather Services International (WSI). And despite nearly a month passing since the last tropical storm activity, WSI said more named storms than previously forecast are likely to form in the Atlantic Basin this year.

Summer will end with cooler-than-normal temperatures dominating the East, a trend that is expected to carry over through October, but high temperatures will keep their grip on the central United States, according to forecasters at Andover, MA-based Weather Services International (WSI).

Joining the months-long trend in the industry of transitioning from dry natural gas targets to more liquids-rich plays due to market economics, Dallas-based Matador Resources Co. said recently its 2012 plans will target the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas while ramping down the development of its Haynesville Shale acreage in North Louisiana.

U.S. imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) last year continued the downward trend that began in 2009, according to data compiled by Pan EurAsian Enterprises Inc. Last year’s imports were well less than half of what they were in 2007, the peak year for imports, and they were slightly less than the level seen in 2008.