Well

Lilis Energy Inc. is raising its year-end production guidance after four wells in the Permian Basin reached 24-hour initial production (IP) rates, including one that it said registered the highest IP in New Mexico to date, the Houston-based company said Monday.

An XTO Energy Inc. Utica Shale well in Belmont County, OH, is still leaking natural gas and brine water two weeks after it blew out when contractors were finishing completion operations.

Halcon Resources Corp. said it will exercise an option to acquire more than 6,000 net acres in West Texas within the Permian Basin’s Delaware sub-basin and drill at least two wells in the near future, after determining that its first operated well in the play was a success.

Houston’s Gastar Exploration Inc. expects to have initial flowback within the next two weeks from its second Meramec well in Kingfisher County, OK, which it completed with 34 hydraulic fracture stages.

Colorado, which has about 51,000 active natural gas and oil wells, has toughened regulations for reporting spills at drill sites, a measure expected to inflate the annual numbers.

The Texas Transportation Commission has approved $225 million for work to repair roads damaged as a consequence of the state’s oil and gas boom. The funding, provided by the Texas Legislature (see Shale Daily, May 30), will allow the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)to begin repairing and rehabilitating roadways damaged by heavy trucks and increased traffic. It is estimated that energy sector traffic across the state has caused $400 million in immediate roadway safety concerns, such as severe edge damage on narrow roadways, deep rutting and pavement damage. Estimates show an additional $1 billion per year is needed to restore roadways heavily impacted by energy development to “good” or “better” conditions, the commission said. “Fatalities resulting from motor vehicle crashes in Texas rose by 11% in 2012 compared to the previous year,” said TxDOT Executive Director Phil Wilson. “We are pleased that our lawmakers saw fit to fund some of these safety-focused rehabilitation and repair projects, and we hope resources that enhance safety will continue to be a priority as our energy industry thrives.” With more than 80,000 miles of highway, Texas, home of the Eagle Ford and Barnett shales as well as the Permian Basin, has the largest highway system in the nation.

Steel manufacturer Nucor Corp. said it will spend more than $700 million during a two-year period on natural gas drilling in order to meet its contractual obligations with Encana Corp. for a supply of low-cost natural gas.

BP plc last week launched a Gulf Claims Fraud Hotline “to help protect the integrity of the claims processes” related to the 2010 Macondo well blowout and Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

EQT Midstream Partners LP agreed to pay up to $650 million for Appalachian-focused Sunrise Partners LP and a new transportation agreement, the company said Monday.