Western

July natural gas is set to open unchanged Friday morning at $4.58 as traders attempt to balance a near-term soft weather outlook with a storage deficit still considered unable to allay concerns over winter supply. Overnight oil markets were mixed.

After a 32-year run, Royal Dutch Shell’s U.S. operations are pulling the plug on oil shale research in Colorado, noting that the company has spent tens of millions of dollars and learned a lot. The closing of the operations will be a careful, phased exit to maximize environmental and safety considerations in the Piceance Basin in northwest Colorado, Shell said.

The Western Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Lease Sale 233, which offered for bid 20.7 million acres offshore Texas, yielded fewer offers and lower total high bids than in the past, with 12 operators making 61 offers for 53 blocks that covered just more than 300,000 acres, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) officials said Wednesday.

The Western Reserve Land Conservancy (WRLC) is voicing support for Utica Shale development, including hydraulic fracturing (fracking), but it wants to see the industry, landowners and other stakeholders come to an agreement over developing the eastern Ohio portion of the play, the CEO said.

The head of the Western Reserve Land Conservancy (WRLC) said the organization is not opposed to Utica Shale development and hydraulic fracturing (fracking), but wants to see the industry, landowners and other stakeholders come to an agreement over developing eastern Ohio’s portion of the play.

Denver-based SM Energy Co. is marketing all of its properties in the Anadarko Basin, including its Granite Wash interests. The sale of the gas-weighted assets is part of normal high-grading activities, the company said Wednesday. Proceeds could be spent in the Permian Basin or in the Eagle Ford Shale, analysts speculated Wednesday.

Maryland’s Department of Environment (MDE) and Department of Natural Resources have released a draft report describing best practices for drilling and production that should be required if horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing of natural gas wells is permitted in the state’s portion of the Marcellus Shale, which is confined to its two westernmost counties.

The worst of the flooding in Western Canada has subsided and field operations for the energy sector are getting back to normal, but access to downtown Calgary’s offices was still blocked Wednesday as power restoration and building inspections were taking longer than expected, according to officials.

A wildfire along the Western Slope in Colorado south of Rangely in the Piceance Basin prompted Denver-based Encana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc. to close 500 conventional natural gas wells in Rio Blanco County and evacuate an eight-worker plant. The shutdown was expected to continue at least through Friday, a Colorado-based Encana spokesperson told NGI.