Which

ExxonMobil Corp.’s production in the Bakken Shale has reached about 32,000 boe/d, which is 60% higher than a year ago and double the amount the company was producing just three years ago, a top executive said Thursday. Two more oil-directed rigs have been added to the play in just the past three months.

Typical well performance as well as peak-month production of the Eagle Ford Shale’s best wells exceeds those for wells drilled in the Bakken Shale, which is often considered the tight oil standard, according to the “IHS Herold Eagle Ford Regional Play Assessment.”

Dominion Resources has formed new unit Dominion NGL Pipelines, which is soliciting interest in a new pipeline that would carry ethane from the tailgate of a new processing plant being built by Dominion near Natrium, WV, to an interconnect with Enterprise Products Partners LP’s planned Appalachia to Texas Express (Atex Express) pipeline near Follansbee, WV.

A fourth company is considering plans to build an ethane cracker in West Virginia, according to state Commerce Secretary Keith Burdette.

The cash-strapped state park system in Colorado is considering using its nonprofit foundation to bring in more private-sector funds, which include allowing more oil and natural gas drilling in some of the state parks, such as the drilling currently taking place at one state park, St. Vrain, near Longmont, CO. A series of public meetings around the state has been set to kick off Thursday in Grand Junction and continue in Colorado Springs (July 24), Fort Collins (July 31) and Denver (Aug. 8). Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials are considering corporate sponsorships and/or more oil and gas drilling in state parks to cope with budget cuts, according to reports this month in various news media around the state. Assistant Director Ken Brink told local news media that park visitors do not want state parks named after corporations, or more oil/gas drilling in the parks, but the officials say they may have no choice. There are 42 state parks in Colorado that now are forced to develop all of their revenues through user fees.

For a second consecutive year, the vibrant history of North Dakota’s oil and natural gas drilling has been replicated in a large illustrated map indicating all 3,461 wells in the Bakken and Three Forks formation at the end of 2011. The map was jointly published by the North Dakota Petroleum Council (NDPC) and Energy/Environmental Research Center.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett last week signed the state’s $27.7 billion budget for 2012-13 into law, which includes modifications to the tax code that could potentially offer billions in tax breaks to companies investing in an ethane cracker and associated manufacturing facilities.

CME Group Inc., which owns the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), has fined Houston-based Whiteside Energy LP $225,000 after one of its traders left an automatic trade execution system (ATES) operating unattended, causing disruption in the natural gas futures market.

Southcross Energy is expanding the capacity of its Bonnie View Fractionator, which is nearing completion in Refugio County in South Texas. Initial capacity was intended to be 11,500 b/d of natural gas liquids (NGL), but that has been increased to 22,500 b/d. The facility is expected to operate at the higher capacity beginning in January. The fractionator is connected to the Seadrift ethane and propane products pipelines and will have truck-loading facilities to ship and receive NGL products. Completion of this project will bring Dallas-based Southcross Energy’s fractionation capacity in the Corpus Christi, TX, area to 27,300 b/d. About a year ago Southcross acquired about 58 miles of 6-, 8-, 10- and 12-inch diameter natural gas pipelines in San Patricio and Refugio counties (see Shale Daily, July 6, 2011).