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The United States likely will add 11 Bcf/d of natural gas to its reserves this year at total finding, development and completion costs under $3.00/Mcf, while a review of 45,000 unconventional oil wells is finding “tremendous” growth in oil reserves, preliminary IHS Inc. data indicate.

National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NOV), which this year has completed six acquisitions worth $2 billion, on Thursday continued its shopping spree with a $2.5 billion cash offer for Texas operator Robbins & Myers (R&M). The deal would mark NOV’s biggest single acquisition since 2008, when it paid $7.7 billion to buy Grant Prideco.

Excess ethane inventories are being worked off as maintenance at petrochemical facilities is completed. Ethane inventories are expected to decline for the remainder of the year while petrochemical plants operate at high utilization and rely upon ethane as their primary feedstock, Oneok Partners President Terry Spencer said during an earnings conference call last Wednesday.

Excess ethane inventories are being worked off as maintenance at petrochemical facilities is completed. Ethane inventories are expected to decline for the remainder of the year while petrochemical plants operate at high utilization and rely upon ethane as their primary feedstock, Oneok Partners President Terry Spencer said during an earnings conference call Wednesday.

Natural gas production from the Lower 48 states during May was essentially unchanged from April, according to Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, while consumption during the month set a record.

The drilling boom in the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas has increased instances of illegal drilling waste hauling in the region, while some South Texas counties have seen highway fatalities skyrocket, blamed largely on increased commercial truck traffic.

While the state has a mandate to have one-third of its electricity come from renewable energy resources by 2020, energy planners and providers alike are hoping milder weather prevails this summer in the face of prospects for perhaps a permanent shut down of one of the state’s two major nuclear generating plants.

Natural gas liquids (NGL) prices have been under pressure for a while, but some might be caught off guard by continuing weakness in the NGL sector, cautioned analysts at Wells Fargo Securities in a note Tuesday.

Denver-based Antero Resources is unloading its Arkoma Basin assets and redeploying capital to Appalachian shale plays while Vanguard Natural Resources LLC, which is buying Antero’s mostly natural gas Arkoma assets for $445 million, is establishing a new operating area with the deal.