Vice

Encana Corp. has about 50 billion bbl of oil in place in its five largest liquids plays, according to Eric Marsh, executive vice president. Earlier this month at Barclays CEO Energy/Power Conference, the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS) was at the top of his list.

Patrick French, 64, an advocate for the U.S. energy industry, died Saturday in Bethesda, MD. French was president of the Foundation for Energy Education and executive vice president of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers (TAEP), which he joined in 2000 and helped to transform into a strong statewide network with members in 300 cities and 29 states. French was named an industry “legend” by Oil and Gas Investor Magazine in 2010. He wrote numerous articles and was a frequent energy industry commentator on television, with his efforts culminating in the ABC television pilot series, “The Hard Question,” which recently debuted in Dallas and Houston. French formed The Association Development Group in 1991 in Washington, DC, which worked with trade associations, including the Independent Petroleum Association of America. He also served on the board of directors of the Global Energy Management Institute at the University of Houston and on the board of directors of the National Corrosion Institute at Rice University.

The senior executives of Halcon Resources Corp. have a fatter checkbook than when they started Eagle Ford Shale pioneer Petrohawk Energy Corp. not so very long ago. Having sold that successful natural gas-focused venture, with Halcon they are targeting unconventional oil plays with a similar strategy and expecting similar success.

Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum Corp. (Oxy) has named a new vice president/treasurer, Christopher Stavros, 48, who has been the oil/gas exploration and production (E&P) company’s director of investor relations since 2006. Stavros will continue to oversee the investor relations function in his new capacity, according to Oxy CEO Stephen Chazen, who said Stavros has a comprehensive understanding of both the financial and operational aspects of Oxy and its E&P business. Before joining Oxy in 2005, Stavros held positions with Ernst & Young, Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Prudential Securities and UBS. He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Boston University and an MBA from the University of Rochester’s Simon School of Business.

The shale gas industry contributed $76.8 billion to U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) and supported more than 600,000 jobs in 2010, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg, according to a report issued Wednesday by the World Economic Forum (WEF) at IHS CERAWeek 2012 in Houston.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking nominations of nationally and/or internationally recognized scientists or engineers to conduct a “thorough and unbiased review” of a draft agency report released in December, which found that groundwater in Pavillion, WY, may be polluted by natural gas drilling and well stimulation practices (including hydraulic fracturing).

Rapid City, SD-based Black Hills Corp. has named John Benton vice president and general manager of the energy holding company’s oil and gas production unit, Black Hills Exploration & Production. Benton is replacing John Vering, a Black Hills board member who has served as interim CEO of the E&P unit and will return to his board position. With bachelor’s and master’s degrees in petroleum engineering from Colorado School of Mines, Benton comes to Black Hills from Rex Energy Corp., where he headed development of the company’s Niobrara acreage in Wyoming and Colorado.

Assumptions for pricing of volatile natural gas liquids (NGL) have been changed, but this should not affect the credit ratings of NGL companies, according to a report released Friday by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P). Generally, there is a 20-25% discount relative to average spot market prices.

Enterprise Products Partners LP, Enbridge Energy Partners LP and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. are partnering on a new natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline from Skellytown, TX in Carson County to NGL fractionation and storage facilities in Mont Belvieu, TX. The new system would benefit takeaway capacity from the Barnett Shale as well as from other plays.